Biden pardons five family members fearing Trump's backlash
In the final minutes of his presidency, Joe Biden pardoned five members of his family. In a statement, he clarified that these pardons were not because his family had committed any wrongdoing but because he "feared political attacks from the incoming President, Donald J. Trump."
"My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics," Biden said in a statement. "Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end," he added, as reported by the New York Times.
According to Biden's decision, his brothers, Francis W. Biden and James B. Biden, along with James's wife, Sara Jones Biden, his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, and her husband, John T. Owens, were granted pardons.
The White House announced the pardons less than 20 minutes before the end of Biden's term, after he had already entered the Capitol to participate in Trump's inauguration.
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