Biden issued blanket pardons for his brother James and his wife, Sara; his sister, Valerie, and her husband, John Owens; and his brother Francis.
“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,” he said in a statement.
The family pardons were the surprise finale in a series of unprecedented presidential actions by the Democrat, who has been known as an intuitionalist during his half-century in politics Biden also pardoned Dr. Annthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and allies who have been targeted by Republican President Donald Trump.
It was a remarkable use of Biden's presidential power: None of the above has been charged with any crime, and the move was designed to guard against possible retribution by Trump.
Also on Monday, Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents.
Peltier was denied parole as recently as July and wasn’t eligible for parole again until 2026. He was serving life in prison for the killings during a standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He will transition to home confinement, Biden said in a statement.
