When former President Biden issued a slew of controversial pre-emptive pardons on his way out the door, he insisted the move did not suggest the recipients “engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.” Not only did his family receive pardons literally minutes before power transferred to President Donald Trump, but Monday morning he announced pardons for Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, those on the J6 Committee, and U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee.
While many were outraged that Biden would do such a thing on his last day in office, the spouse of one Democrat raged that her husband wasn’t offered a pardon.
“Whatever happens to my family, know this: No pardons were offered or discussed. I cannot begin to describe the level of betrayal and hurt I feel,” said Rachel Vindman, wife of retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who was a key witness in the first impeachment of Trump.
A reminder of just some of the criticisms of Vindman's actions:
Vindman alleged President Trump’s July phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky was “inappropriate.” What was astonishingly inappropriate was Vindman’s failure to use appropriate military regulations and long-standing protocol to render a complaint against the commander in chief.
All branches of the military have an established chain of command. If Vindman had an actual, valid concern regarding the president’s conversation with Zelensky, he should have followed protocol, talked to his superiors or requested an inspector-general investigation into the phone call—not buddy-up with partisan attorneys who carefully coached him and supplied him with talking points for his testimony.
Vindman’s actions were simply disgraceful. To date, there’s no evidence Vindman took an honorable course of action as previously described. Instead, what happened during the hearing was more akin to an act of insubordination in which a low-level Army analyst appeared to contravene the civilian authority of our duly elected commander in chief to set foreign-policy objectives, as the Constitution prescribes.
As Charles Hurt, opinion editor at The Washington Times, writes, “Nowhere in the Constitution does it say anything about any kind of policy analyst—in uniform or otherwise—who has any authority whatsoever to override or undermine foreign policies set by those elected by the American people.” (Townhall)
Wife of Alexander Vindman, the Democrats’ star witness for Trump’s impeachment, says her family wasn’t offered any pardons and she’s very hurt.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 20, 2025
Is there something her family would need a pardon for….? 👀
The Trump admin should look into this. pic.twitter.com/LfdQ4Zhway
"I need a pardon because I did nothing wrong"
— Hugo Vale (@HugoVale_) January 20, 2025
Said no one ever.
Wonder what crimes Rachel thinks her family engaged in... https://t.co/oOkH2Wnnw7
— ColonelTowner-Watkins (@ColonelTowner) January 20, 2025
If you did nothing wrong, why do you need a pardon? https://t.co/l0Wqq8AKXd
— Dave Chadwick (@DChadwickAuthor) January 20, 2025
