White House set to ‘protect’ Cheney, Fauci

Liz Cheney and Anthony Fauci are among prominent targets of Donald Trump being considered for pre-emptive pardons by senior advisers to President Joe Biden.

Former Republican congresswoman Liz Chaney is a strong critic of Donald Trump. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

Liz Cheney and Anthony Fauci are among prominent targets of Donald Trump being considered for pre-emptive pardons by senior advisers to President Joe Biden.

Ms Cheney, a Republican former congresswoman and vocal opponent of Mr Trump, and Dr Fauci, who advised the former president on the response to the pandemic, have been threatened with prosecution by the president-elect or his allies.

Mr Biden’s chief-of-staff, Jeff Zients, and White House counsel Ed Siskel are considering whether the President should follow the pardon for his son, Hunter, with amnesty for others thought to be at risk of the “retribution” Mr Trump promised in a speech last year, Politico reported.

The move would be a rare protective use of the wide-ranging powers of clemency granted to the president in the American constitution “to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment”.

Presidents traditionally issue a number of pardons as they leave office but the usual standard is that the recipient has been convicted or admitted to a crime. Neither Ms Cheney, who lost a re-election battle to a pro-Trump Republican in 2022, nor Dr Fauci, who retired as director of the ­National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases two years ago, has been charged with anything.

Anthony Fauci angered many Republicans over lockdown and social distancing measures. Picture: Getty Images

But Mr Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel, a zealous supporter of his desire to turn the tables on his enemies, as head of the FBI has prompted discussions of pre-emptive measures.

In March, Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social network about Ms Cheney: “She should go to jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!” He was responding to an article by Mr Patel that alleged Ms Cheney had suppressed evidence to a congress committee on the January 6 riot that could have exonerated Mr Trump.

Last month Trump ally Elon Musk posted on X: “My pronouns are still prosecute/Fauci”, a reference to 2022 when Mr Musk suggested he would release details of conversations between Twitter executives and Dr Fauci during the height of the pandemic. Many Republicans are still angry at lockdown and social distancing measures promoted by the medical establishment.

Mr Trump has threatened to prosecute or jail various opponents over the years. He did not follow through on “lock her up” chants about Hillary Clinton in 2016, so it is hard to know how seriously to take his rhetoric.

The Times