With just minutes left in his presidency, Joe Biden issued a final batch of pardons: Members of his family.
His pardons were yet another signal of his fear that allies will be targeted by incoming President Donald Trump.
Those pardoned include brother James Biden and wife Sara Jones Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens and her husband John T. Owens, and brother Francis Biden.
“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me—the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden also pardoned Gerald G. Lundergan and Ernest William Cromartie, and he commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier so he can serve the remainder of a life sentence in home confinement.
The announcements were made just about the same time as Biden entered the Rotunda to witness the swearing in of Trump.
Donald Trump Arrives In Rotunda , 8:46 a.m. PT: Donald Trump has arrived in the Capitol Rotunda to be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
He as cheered loudly as he entered the Rotunda.
He’s due to take the oath around noon ET/9 a.m. PT, following prayers and musical interludes, as well as Carrie Underwood singing “America the Beautiful.”
A number of lawmakers attending are wearing blue suits and red ties, mimicking Trump’s look. Trump’s tie today, though, is more of a purple-ish red.
A Telling Tale Of Two Americas, 8:16 a.m. PT: A study in contrasts in coverage of the inauguration.
On Fox News, host Harris Faulkner spoke of Trump supporters filling the streets of D.C. in celebration. The anchor may be playing to the news channel’s core audience. As Joe Biden and Donald Trump traveled by motorcade to the Capitol, cameras showed very few people along the sidewalks, on a chilly and icy D.C. morning. Military and law enforcement personnel far outnumbered citizens.
On MSNBC, Joy Reid focused on the absence of Karen Pence, even though her husband, former Vice President Mike Pence, is attending. “Karen Pence, if you are watching at home, God bless you,” Reid said. Karen Pence has made clear she has no time for her husband’s former boss after the January 6 MAGA mob threatened to hang the then VP. Also absent: Former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Tech CEOs Get Choice Spots In Capitol Rotunda, 7:52 a.m. PT: Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos are among the tech industry titans who were spotted at the Capitol for the swearing in ceremony.
They, along with other tech CEOs, are expected to get the choicest of seating: In the Rotunda, where space is extremely limited and largely set aside for members of Congress. Spotted there were Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, along with Rupert Murdoch and Joe Rogan.
Other guests are being seated in Emancipation Hall, part of the White House Visitor Center, where they will watch the ceremony on large screens. Also spotted at the Capitol: TikTok CEO Shou Chew, as Trump has said he will sign an executive order to try to delay congressional legislation to ban it.
“This is about mutually beneficial as it gets,” CNN’s Dana Bash said of the presence of the CEOs and their placement on a makeshift stage, in some cases in front of members of Trump’s cabinet.
Among those spotted in Emancipation Hall: Sam Altman, Logan and Jake Paul, Conor McGregor, Theo Von and Danica Patrick.
Joe Biden And Donald Trump Depart White House For Swearing In Ceremony, 7:40 a.m. PT: President Joe Biden departed the White House with Donald Trump on their way to the Capitol for the swearing in ceremony.
Biden told reporters that he left a letter for the incoming president, but declined to say what the contents were. “That’s between Trump and me.”
The ride down Pennsylvania Avenue, often with bitter rivals, is yet another longtime tradition of the transfer of power, one that didn’t happen four years ago as Trump declined to participate.
The Bidens posted one last selfie before their farewell.
First Lady Jill Biden and Melania Trump also traveled together, as did Vice President Kamala Harris and JD Vance.
The Bidens Greet The Trumps At White House, 7:22 a.m. PT: President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden greeted Donald Trump and Melania Trump at the White House for a morning tea, continuing a symbolic gesture in the transfer of power.
The two couples stood briefly for a photo, with a chilly wind blowing on the north end of the White House. Biden and Trump will soon travel to the Capitol for the swearing in ceremony.
“Welcome home,” Biden said to Trump after he got out of his black SUV, per a pool report.
Earlier, reporters asked Biden what his message was for the day. “Joy,” Biden said.
The tradition is one that Trump denied Biden four years ago, following the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Trump still insists, falsely, that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Earlier, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff welcomed JD Vance and Usha Vance.
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: (L-R) First lady Jill Biden and U.S. President Joe Biden welcome U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump to the White House ahead of inauguration ceremonies on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Donald Trump Attends St. John’s Church Services, 6:08 a.m. PT: President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump kicked off Inauguration Day with a longtime tradition: Attending services at St. John’s Episcopal Church across Lafayette Square.
Trump was joined by Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha, and among those attending were the leaders of the tech giants: Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta; Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and fiance Lauren Sanchez; Apple CEO Tim Cook; X’s owner Elon Musk; and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Also present: Rupert Murdoch, TikTok CEO Shou Chew; UFC’s Dana White, podcast host Joe Rogan, and Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, per a pool report.
The temperature in Washington this morning is 24 degrees, with the windchill even lower and a light snow on the ground, a reason why Trump decided to move the swearing in ceremony indoors. That set off a scramble for seats, as the Capitol Rotunda, where the ceremony will take place, only holds about a thousand people.
Donald Trump arrives at St. John’s Church along with Melania Trump. Mark Zuckerberg is in the background. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
St. John’s, known as the church of presidents, holds significance from the first Trump term. It’s where Trump held up a Bible after walking with members of his administration from the White House. It was amid 2020 protests and riots following the death of George Floyd, and moments earlier, authorities from Park Police had cleared the area of demonstrators.
The service lasted for about 25 minutes and finished with a rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
Earlier, the Trump team released some excerpts of what he would say in his inaugural address to The Wall Street Journal. Trump plans to proclaim a “new era of national success” and call for a “revolution of common sense.”
Meta and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, CEO of Apple Tim Cook, Founder of Amazon and Blue Origin Jeff Bezos attend services as part of Inauguration ceremonies at St. John’s Church. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor and the vitality of history’s greatest civilization,” Trump will say, per the Journal.
The president is expected to sign dozens of executive orders today — more than 200, per Fox News, including those dealing with the border and immigration, the federal workforce and oil drilling. One executive order will lift an electric vehicle mandate, one of the signature efforts of the Biden administration to address climate change.
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