WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden pardoned five members of his family in his last minutes in office, saying in a statement that he did so not because they did anything wrong but because he feared political attacks from incoming President Donald Trump.

“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics,” he said in his last statement as president. “Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”

Biden’s action pardoned James B. Biden, his brother; Sara Jones Biden, James’ wife; Valerie Biden Owens, Joe Biden’s sister; John T. Owens, Owens’ husband; and Francis W. Biden, Joe Biden’s brother.

The White House announced the pardons with less than 20 minutes left in Biden’s presidency, after he had already walked into the Capitol Rotunda to witness the swearing-in of Trump before leaving the Capitol for the last time as president.

The pardons were a remarkable coda to Biden’s 50-year political career, underscoring the mistrust and anger that the president feels about Trump, the man who preceded and will succeed him in office.

Biden had repeatedly warned that Trump was a threat to democracy in America. But he also said that he believed in the rule of law, and was confident in the stability of the institutions of law enforcement. The pardons — like one that he did earlier for his son, Hunter Biden, threatened to challenge that assertion.

Biden’s Statement of His Actions

In his statement, Biden explained his action.

“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Biden wrote. “But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances.”

Biden also commuted the life sentence for Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist who was convicted of killing two FBI agents in 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Biden said that his action would allow Peltier, who is 80 years old, to serve the remainder of his time in home confinement.

In his statement, White House officials noted that “Tribal nations, Nobel Peace laureates, former law enforcement officials (including the former U.S. attorney whose office oversaw Peltier’s prosecution and appeal), dozens of lawmakers, and human rights organizations strongly support granting Peltier clemency, citing his advanced age, illnesses, his close ties to and leadership in the Native American community and the substantial length of time he has already spent in prison.”

The president also pardoned two Democratic politicians, Ernest William Cromartie, a former city council member in South Carolina, and Gerald G. Lundergan, a state legislator from Kentucky.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Michael D. Shear/Cheriss May
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