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President Joe Biden on Monday pardoned his siblings and their spouses, saying his family had 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,” he said.

The pardons, announced just minutes before Biden left office, capped a slew of unprecedented presidential action by the Democrat, who has been known as an intuitionalist during his half-century in politics. Biden also 

, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and allies who have been targeted by Republican Donald Trump. It was a remarkable use of Biden's presidential power: None of those pardoned has been charged with any crime, and the move was designed to guard against possible retribution by his Republican successor.

Last month, Biden pardoned his son Hunter for tax and gun crimes, despite previous pledges not to.

Biden issued blanket pardons for his brother James and his wife, Sara; his sister, Valerie, and her husband, John Owens; and his brother Francis.

“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,” he said in a statement.

The pardons came as Biden and others stood at the U.S. Capitol to see 

 recommending the prosecution of Hunter and James Biden, accusing them of making false statements to Congress as part of a Republican impeachment inquiry. James Biden’s lawyer at the time called it a “baseless partisan action.” James Biden’s business dealings were heavily scrutinized by Republicans as part of their failed impeachment inquiry. Republicans pointed to a series of payments that they claimed showed the president benefited from his brother’s work.

House Democrats defended the transaction, pointing to bank records they say indicate James Biden was repaying a loan provided by his brother, who had wire transferred $200,000 to him about six weeks earlier. The money changed hands while Joe Biden was a private citizen.

In a voluntary interview as part of the impeachment inquiry, James Biden said his brother “never had any involvement” in the business dealings of other members of his family.

Other presidents have pardoned family members. 

 pardoned his brother Roger for drug charges after he had served his sentence roughly a decade earlier. In his final weeks in office, 

, the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

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The pardons, announced just minutes before Biden left office, capped a slew of unprecedented presidential action by the Democrat, who has been known as an intuitionalist during his half-century in politics.

Just minutes before leaving the presidency, Biden pardons his siblings and their spouses

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