MATTHEWS: Joe Biden’s last shameful act

Fauci has been accused of being dishonest about what he knew about the NIH’s funding of research in Wuhan, China

President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 in Nov.ember in Washington, D.C., as Dr. Anthony Fauci listens. (Evan Vucci / AP Photo)

In the final weeks of Joe Biden’s presidency, he’s done a slew of things that call into question his claims of being, to paraphrase, a compassionate Democrat and a defender of the rule of law.

In early December, he used his power to pardon his son, convicted felon Hunter Biden, for the period between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 1, 2024, over what he wrongly described as an unfair, politically motivated prosecution, even though Attorney General Merrick Garland, who is over the Justice Department, is a Biden appointee.

“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” Joe Biden declared in the statement he issued on his sweeping pardon of Hunter Biden, who had been convicted on felony gun and tax evasion charges.

In pardoning his son, many of Biden’s critics believe he was, in effect, pardoning himself, too.

He also converted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row to life in prison without parole, a cruel action that ripped open old wounds for the family members of many of the murder victims, some of whom even wrote Biden ahead of time and pleaded with him not to do it.

And in what may be his last shameful act as president, on the morning of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, Biden announced preemptive pardons for several prominent public figures Trump has vowed to take action against, including retired Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and what’s known as the J6 Committee, the latter of which was involved in investigating the unfortunate events of Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol Building ahead of the certification of Biden’s 2020 election.

“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Biden proclaimed in his statement on his 11th-hour action. “But these are exceptional circumstances.”

What he left out was the alleged offenses of Milley, Fauci and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was on the J6 Committee and became celebrated in Democrat/media circles for her opposition to Trump.

Milley was the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman during Trump’s presidency. In the last months of Trump’s first term, Milley allegedly committed what some conservatives have suggested was treason by assuring “his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, that the United States would not strike,” according to a Washington Post recounting of claims made in a 2021 book written by their associate editor, Bob Woodward, and one of their reporters, Robert Costa.

Per that same report, Milley took it to a disturbing new level on one phone call by informing the Chinese general, “If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise.”

Fauci has been accused of allegedly being dishonest while under oath when he testified before Congress amid the COVID-19 pandemic about what he knew about the National Institute of Health’s funding of gain of function research in Wuhan, China.

There are also allegations Cheney engaged in witness tampering and that others on the committee may have tampered with and possibly even deleted evidence related to the investigation.

As this column is being written, there are just a few hours left in Biden’s presidency. Does he have one more shameful act left — pardoning himself and/or his family members? He’s said before he didn’t need to pardon himself because he hadn’t done anything wrong.

But by that standard, he would have never issued the preemptive pardons of Milley, Fauci and Cheney.

Whatever the case may be, good riddance to the presidency of Joe Biden. May there be much better days ahead under the leadership of President Trump.

North Carolina native Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah and is a media analyst and regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.