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The family pardons were the surprise finale in a series of unprecedented presidential actions by the Democrat, who has been known as an intuitionalist during his half-century in politics. , retired Gen. , members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and allies who have been targeted by Republican President Donald Trump. He was sworn in Monday.

It was a remarkable use of Biden's presidential power: None of the above has been charged with any crime, and the move was designed to guard against possible retribution by Trump.

Trump, during his campaign, repeatedly suggested he would seek to use the Justice Department to exact retribution against his perceived political foes. His pick for that the department would not prosecute anyone for political purposes. But she refused to rule out potential investigations into Trump adversaries, including the special counsel who brought two federal criminal cases against Trump that have since been abandoned.

Last month, for tax and gun crimes, despite his previous pledges not to do so.

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 just before noon. Biden was already at the Capitol to see .

House Republicans in June 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 Joe, 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.

Trump denounced the move in remarks to supporters hours after the Biden White House announced the pardons. He mocked the Democratic administration for waiting until the final minutes of its term to announce the move.

“Did you know that Biden, while I was making my speech, pardoned his whole family?" Trump said. "The brother — the whole deal was pardoned. Can you imagine that?�

During a separate exchange with reporters, Trump accused Biden of creating “unbelievable precedent� for future presidents.

“I guess now I have precedent to do it,� Trump said.

Other presidents have pardoned family members, but those were for specific criminal convictions.

pardoned his brother Roger for drug charges after he had served his sentence roughly a decade earlier. In the final weeks of his first term, , 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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AP writer Aamer Madhani contributed reporting.