Former President Joe Biden issued a staggering number of presidential pardons during his time in the White House.
In total, the 82-year-old issued 8,064 pardons during his tenure, with 6,500 of those coming by way of a sweeping pardon for those convicted of marijuana possession.
Outside of recently deceased former president Jimmy Carter, who pardoned over 200,000 individuals for draft dodging – Biden has issued the most.
By contrast, his successor President Donald Trump issued only 237 in his first term.
The only previous incumbent that has come close, barring Carter’s mass pardon, was President Andrew Johnson who granted 7,654 – putting him amongst the highest.
President Obama issued 1,927 in his time, the highest number for any two-term president since Franklin D. Roosevelt who pardoned 3,687 people.
Other figures include Lyndon B. Johnson with 1,187, Dwight D. Eisenhower with 1,157 and Herbert Hoover with 1,198.
Just minutes before President Trump was formally sworn in as the new commander-in-chief on Monday, Biden also saw fit to pardon members of his family.
In total, the 82-year-old issued 8,064 pardons during his tenure, with 6,500 of those coming by way of a sweeping pardon for those convicted of marijuana possession
His brother James Biden had been pulled into House Republicans’ impeachment investigation of Joe Biden, which ultimately went nowhere.
The pardons were sweeping, covering all of their ‘nonviolent’ actions dating back to 2014.
Biden said his family was subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics.’
In December, Biden pardoned his son Hunter after vowing not to. Hunter was facing sentencing in two criminal cases late last year.
The only family members missing from Monday’s list was wife Jill and daughter Ashley.
In December, Biden pardoned his son Hunter after vowing not to. Hunter was facing sentencing in two criminal cases last year
US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the WHite House in Washington, DC, on January 20
Biden wasn’t the first to pardon family members, with President Bill Clinton absolving his brother Roger for drug charges after having served a sentence.
In the final weeks of his first term, Trump also pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared.
In December of last year Biden also commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people in what was the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.
A commutation reduces a sentence that is being served, but does not erase a conviction nor imply innocence, according to the Department of Justice.
One of those who had their sentence commuted was Marvin Gabrion, who had been awaiting his execution for the 1997 rape and murder of Rachel Timmerman.
Timmerman’s father Tim lashed out at the ex-president over the decision at the time, describing it as ‘despicable’.
After his last minute pardon of family members, David Axelrod, the mastermind behind Obama’s rise to power slammed them as ‘egregious’.
Speaking on the Hacks on Tap podcast, Axelrod had special contempt for the pardons being announced just minutes before Trump took office.
‘I mean, man up! You know what I mean? Man up, and if you’re gonna do it, do it, but don’t do it literally as you have one foot out the door so you don’t have to explain it or be accountable for it, he said.
One of those who had their sentence commuted by Biden was Marvin Gabrion, seen here, who had been awaiting his execution for the 1997 rape and murder of Rachel Timmerman
As Trump assumed office earlier this week, he was quick to issue pardons for the January 6 rioters
The CNN commentator then explained what about the pardons made them backfire on his former boss.
‘And what they did was they gave Trump a gift because it fuzzied up the story, the J6 story for him, and you heard him last night,’ he said.
Axelrod then asked: ‘Could you end a presidency as badly as he has? I mean, Trump did.’
President Trump had shown some restraint in his first term, issuing pardons for 237 people.
As he assumed office earlier this week though, he was quick to issue pardons for the January 6 rioters, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and pro-life protestors.
Trump pardoned about 1,500 defendants relating to the assault of the capitol and issued six commutations. His total pardons now totals over 1,700.
The pardons fulfill Trump’s promise to release supporters who tried to help him overturn his election defeat four years ago.
