Why Biden pardoned Mark Milley ahead of Trump taking office

Former President Biden's preemptive pardon for retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will give the retired military official a shield against any action that President Trump might take against him amid their highly public feud.

Biden also issued preemptive pardons Monday to Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; some of Biden's family members; and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump, who warned of "enemies from within" on the campaign trail, has sparked fears he will wield the Justice Department for political retaliation. He has repeatedly spoken out against Milley since leaving office and once suggested that he deserved execution.

Milley has, at times, responded forcefully to Trump's comments, taking a shot at Trump in his farewell speech as Joint Chiefs chair in September 2023, telling gathered service members, "We don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator."

Milley reportedly called Trump "fascist to the core" in comments included in a 2024 book by journalist Bob Woodward.

"No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump," Milley said, according to Woodward.

Milley also told Woodward he was concerned Trump would take action against him, saying the president was a "walking, talking advertisement of what he’s going to try to do."

Milley was also a source in Woodward's 2021 book "Peril," in which he reportedly shared concerns about Trump's mental stability and national security concerns.

Trump appointed Milley to chair the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2019. Milley had a rocky start as the nation's highest-ranking military officer.

In 2020, during racial justice rioting in the nation's capitol, Milley reportedly had a shouting match with Trump over deploying the active-duty military on protesters. Trump was thwarted from fully deploying troops by several of his top officials, including then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

During the rioting, Milley also appeared with Trump for a photo opportunity at Lafayette Square near the White House. Milley later apologized for being there.

In the final days of the Trump presidency, Milley reportedly reassured Chinese officials there would be no threat to China. The incident so infuriated Trump that he posted on Truth Social that Milley was "treasonous" and suggested he deserved execution.

The Trump-Milley feud was also at the center of the classified documents case against Trump that the Department of Justice pursued until Trump won the November election.

Trump has often accused Democrats of unfairly targeting him and has vowed to end "weaponization" of the Justice Department, despite also not ruling out prosecutions for "crooked" or "dishonest" politicians.

He pledged in his inauguration address Monday after he was sworn in that the "scales of justice will be rebalanced" and the "vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end."

"Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents," Trump said. "It will not happen again."

In a subsequent speech in Emancipation Hall, Trump named Milley in remarks decrying Biden's pardons.

"What's going on? Why are we doing this? Why are we trying to help a guy like Milley?" Trump said. "He was pardoned, what he said, terrible what he said."

The pardon for Milley shields him from prosecution for any offenses against the U.S. under the law or the Uniform Code of Military Justice and covers a period from Jan. 1, 2014, through Jan. 20, 2025, which covers his time as chief of staff of the Army and former Joint Chiefs chair.

Biden said in a statement that the pardons "should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense."

"Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country," he said.

Biden, who did not name Trump, said that Milley "served our nation for more than 40 years, serving in multiple command and leadership posts and deploying to some of the most dangerous parts of the world to protect and defend democracy."

"As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he guided our Armed Forces through complex global security threats and strengthened our existing alliances while forging new ones," Biden added.

In a statement to USA Today, Milley, who joined Georgetown University and Princeton University last year, said he was "deeply grateful" for the pardon.

"After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights," he said.

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