Biden in Final Hours Pardons Relatives and Others to Thwart Trump Reprisals

President Biden granted a wave of pre-emptive pardons in his final hours in office on Monday to guard members of his own family and other high-profile figures from a promised campaign of “retribution” by his incoming successor, Donald J. Trump.

In an extraordinary effort by an outgoing president to derail political prosecutions by an incoming president, Mr. Biden pardoned five members of his family, including his brothers James B. Biden and Francis W. Biden, as well as others targeted by Mr. Trump like Gen. Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci and former Representative Liz Cheney.

“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.

“Even when individuals have done nothing wrong — and in fact have done the right thing — and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances,” he added.

In addition to his brothers, Mr. Biden pardoned his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, and her husband, John T. Owens, as well as Sara Jones Biden, the wife of James Biden. He pardoned all the members of the bipartisan House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, as well as their staff and the police officers who testified during their inquiry.

In issuing the pre-emptive pardons, Mr. Biden effectively turned the president’s constitutional power of forgiveness into a protective shield against what he maintained would be politically motivated vengeance. No other president has employed executive clemency in such a broad and overt way to thwart a successor he believes would abuse his power, and no other president, not even Mr. Trump, has pardoned so many members of his own family.