Judge struck down Biden's pardons of Fauci, Cheney, Schiff? No, that's satire
A Jan. 23 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) includes an image showing four people – retired Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Sen. Adam Schiff and former Rep. Liz Cheney – who were pardoned by former President Joe Biden.
'Breaking News, News Update, BIDEN PARDONS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL!' reads text in the image. '7th Circuit Judge Joseph Barron ruled that there is no provision to pardon someone who hasn't been formally charged, laying the foundation to have the pardons expunged.'
The Instagram post received more than 80,000 likes in five days. Similar versions of the claim circulated widely on Facebook.
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Our rating: False
The claim originated on a satirical website. There is no judge with that name on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and no record of any court ruling related to the constitutionality of the pardons.
Claim about Biden's pardons originated on satirical website
Biden marked the final hours of his presidency with an unprecedented move, issuing blanket preemptive pardons to several of Trump's potential targets, including the four people shown in the Instagram image. While none have been charged with a crime, all were thought to potentially face retribution from Trump during his second term.
The Instagram post's claim that a 7th Circuit judge quickly determined those pardons violate the constitution, however, is false.
Fact check: Biden used 'end of quote' after citing Eisenhower in farewell address
It originated from a Jan. 21 Facebook post by America's Last Line of Defense, which operates a network of satirical websites. Its intro section states that 'nothing on this page is real.' The post includes an image that matches the one shared on Instagram but includes a watermark in the lower-left corner that identifies it as satire. That watermark was cropped out of the version in the Instagram post.
The claim itself unravels with a closer look at some of its details.
The post attributes the purported ruling to 'Judge Joseph Barron,' but there are no judges on the 7th Circuit court with that name. 'Joe Barron' is a name frequently used in claims stemming from the Facebook account and from articles published by its satirical website, the Dunning-Kruger Times, which states on its 'About Us' page that everything it posts is fiction. Additionally, there is no record of a ruling related to Biden or to the constitutionality of any of the pardons he awarded on the list of opinions and orders issued by the 7th Circuit since Jan. 18.
The Instagram post is an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where content originally written and presented as satire is reposted in a way that makes it appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.
USA TODAY previously debunked false claims that former presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush pardoned relatives and that an authentic headline says Biden 'exemplifies the gospel' by pardoning his son, Hunter Biden.
USA TODAY reached out to several social media users who shared the image but did not immediately receive any responses.
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