President Biden’s pardons may have backfired—by stripping their recipients of a powerful legal shield.
According to a new report, high-profile figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, now pardoned, can no longer invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying before Congress. The twist? While the pardon protects them from prosecution for past actions, it doesn’t cover future perjury—meaning if they lie under oath, they could still face serious consequences.
Biden’s Pardons Backfire? Critics Say They Strip Key Figures of Legal Shield
President Joe Biden’s recent wave of preemptive pardons has sparked a storm of controversy—not just for who received them, but for what the pardons might now expose.
Journalist Matt Taibbi didn’t hold back in a recent interview, calling the move “a mistake” that could ultimately unravel secrets the administration may prefer to keep hidden. “The thing is, about these pardons—they just made it a lot easier for us to find out what’s really going on,” Taibbi said.
He explained that once a person is pardoned, they lose their ability to invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination. “If they’re brought before a grand jury or a congressional committee, they can’t take the Fifth anymore. They have to speak,” he emphasized.
Taibbi said he’s spoken with criminal defense attorneys and both current and former Senate investigators, all of whom raised the same eyebrow. “It’s so illogical to give someone a pardon if you’re trying to cover something up. The only reason you’d do that is if extremely serious crimes were involved. So, to us, that’s a red flag.”
He speculated that either the pardons were a strategic blunder or a sign of deeper, undisclosed wrongdoing. “It’s either incompetence—or there’s something else going on, and that makes it even more interesting.”
Taibbi isn’t alone in his analysis. Federal litigation attorney Jesse Binnall, a former lawyer for Donald Trump, echoed the concern and pointed out a legal vulnerability now facing figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney, and even members of Biden’s own family.
“The pardons are actually great news,” Binnall posted on X. “No one just pardoned can refuse to testify in a civil, criminal, or congressional proceeding by citing the Fifth Amendment.” He added a blunt assessment: “Let’s be realistic—most of these individuals would have to be charged in Washington, D.C., where partisan leftists rarely face convictions.”
That sentiment was amplified by retired Army officer and author Kurt Schlichter, who argued for moving any depositions or testimonies outside of D.C. “Washington is a biased venue that won’t convict Democrats for perjury. So take the show on the road,” he advised.
Among those granted pardons were former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley—who clashed with Trump during his presidency—and every member of the House January 6 committee.
Donald Trump himself addressed the issue during a recent Oval Office press event, taking direct aim at his successor’s pardon choices. “I was going to talk about what Joe did today—pardoning people guilty of very bad crimes, like the unselect committee of political folks,” he told reporters. “Why are we helping people like Milley or Liz Cheney? Liz Cheney is a disaster. She’s a crying lunatic.”
