During the peaceful transition of power that this country observes every four or eight years, it has long been customary for the departing commander-in-chief to pass a private letter to the successor.
Until Fox News Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy questioned him about it during a press conference on Monday night surrounding Trump’s signing of dozens of executive orders in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump seemed to have forgotten that President Joe Biden had left him a letter.
“President Trump, did President Biden leave you a letter?” Doocy asked amid a gaggle of reporters covering Trump’s signing of orders.
“He may have,” Trump replied without looking up, before saying, “Don’t they leave it in the desk,” and opening the drawer to find the said letter.
“Ooooh!” Trump exclaimed as he found the letter. “Thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found this. Thank you.”
“Can you read anything on the outside?” Doocy pressed, to which Trump tease,d “Maybe we should all read it together. Well, maybe I’ll read it first and then make that determination.”
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President Donald Trump tore into former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney on Monday after she received a last-minute pardon from former President Joe Biden.
While signing several executive orders in the Oval Office, reporters asked Trump about several major topics. Trump issued roughly 1,500 pardons and commuted the sentences of 14 people in connection with the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I was going to talk about the J6 hostages, but you’ll be happy because, you know, it’s action, not words that count, and you’re going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages,” Trump said.
“I was going to talk about the things that Joe did today with the pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the unselect committee of political folks,” he added, referring to the Jan. 6 panel.
Hours before leaving office, then-President Joe Biden issued historic preemptive pardons for former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, House Jan. 6 committee members, and others.
“Why are we doing this? Why are we trying to help a guy like Milley? Why are we helping Liz Cheney?” he asked. “I mean, Liz Cheney is a disaster. She’s a crying lunatic and crying, crying.”
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Republicans argued that the pardons signaled an admission of guilt and that the investigation was corrupt.
“Proves they know she’s guilty,” Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) said, referring to Cheney, who was one of many officials who received a pardon from Biden on his way out of office Monday morning.
“Joe Biden’s last-minute pardons of the January 6th sham committee members will forever seal the negative legacy of the Biden administration which will be will be one of corruption, pay-to-play schemes, and the overall total sellout of our ‘American principles,’” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) told the Daily Beast.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), who led the GOP counterprobe into the Jan. 6 committee, called the Monday morning pardons a “direct result of our investigation.”
And Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) agreed, drawing attention to the “unlawful, deceitful, and corrupt” behavior of those pardoned.
“Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy. Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties,” Biden wrote.
“In certain cases, some have even been threatened with criminal prosecutions, including General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and the members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions,” he added.
“General Milley served our nation for more than 40 years, serving in multiple command and leadership posts and deploying to some of the most dangerous parts of the world to protect and defend democracy. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he guided our Armed Forces through complex global security threats and strengthened our existing alliances while forging new ones,” Biden said.
