Biden adds retired Gen Mark Milley to potential sweeping preemptive pardons list: report

President Joe Biden and his staffers are reportedly considering another name to add to the group of people under consideration for preemptive pardons before Trump returns to the White House in January.

According to the Washington Post, reportedly under consideration is former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman retired General Mark Milley. It was previously reported that Anthony Fauci, Senator-elect Adam Schiff, and former Rep. Liz Cheney are being considered for preemptive pardons.



During Biden’s first year in office, Milley faced scrutiny from Congress after it was revealed that he had made secret phone calls to a top Chinese official ahead of the 2020 election and following January 6, the New York Post reported. He admitted in a September 2021 congressional appearance to calling China’s General Li Zuocheng to tell him that he would personally warn China in the event of a US attack. He claimed that he made the call because US intelligence showed that China was worried about a strike by the US and Milley wanted to relieve their fears.

Senator Marc Rubio (R-FL), in response to the revelations, called for Biden to fire Milley, saying that he worked to "actively undermine the sitting Commander in Chief," and Trump wrote that the calls amounted to a "treasonous act" that was "so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!" In a book released by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward in October, Milley claimed that Trump was "fascist to the core" and "the most dangerous person to this country."

This comes after Biden issued a pardon for his son, Hunter, despite previously declaring he would not do so. Biden claimed that his son had been "treated differently" when he was convicted on felony charges, and that he had faced "selective prosecution."

New York Times columnist and MSNBC analyst Michelle Goldberg has called for Biden to issue "blanket pardons" for people who have "not committed crimes," claiming that FBI director nominee Kash Patel has written "enemies lists" that lay out exactly who Biden should pardon.