On Jan. 20, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed during remarks delivered at the U.S. Capitol following his inaugural address that former President Joe Biden had pardoned "33 murderers" in the last days of his presidency.
"I was going to talk about the things Joe did today, with the pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the 'unselect committee' of political thugs," Trump said, referencing a committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He later claimed Biden had pardoned "almost everybody" on death row (emphasis ours):
They pardoned a lot of people. Before we even get to today, they pardoned, what is it, 33 murderers. Absolute murderers, the worst murderers. You know, when you get the death sentence in the United States, you have to be bad. 'Cause they don't give it much. And he pardoned almost everybody having a death sentence. And if you went through the crimes that were committed you wouldn't even believe the level of violence, the people that were killed, the innocence of people that were killed and children killed by these people and he pardoned them for whatever reason. He spared them, but they didn't spare the people that they killed. You know, who knows what happens in the future. It's one of the worst because a lot of times, they let them out early after that. You know, they say you're going to be in for life but then all of a sudden they get let out for good behavior and then they go on a rampage.
A video of Trump's full remarks is available on the White House's YouTube page (see 11:20).
Republican lawmakers including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia also claimed Biden pardoned murderers. Greene additionally claimed Biden had pardoned rapists.
These claims need context. It's not true that Biden pardoned death row prisoners convicted of murder. In December 2024, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row prisoners to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole — a different action from a pardon. Each person on federal death row was convicted of murder or charges related to killing; one commutation recipient's murder conviction also included sexual abuse. In 2022, Biden pardoned a woman who was convicted of murder for killing her husband, which she testified was in self-defense, and in January 2025 he commuted a nonviolent drug charge for a man who previously served a prison sentence for the killings of two people.
Death Row Commutations
On Dec. 23, 2024, Biden announced commutations for 37 of 40 federal death row prisoners, changing their sentences to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole:
I HEREBY COMMUTE the sentences of death imposed as to each of the following named persons to sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, leaving intact and in effect for each named person all other conditions and components of the sentences previously imposed upon them.
The Executive Office of Pardons and Clemency defines a pardon as "an expression of the President's forgiveness and ordinarily is granted in recognition of the applicant's acceptance of responsibility for the crime and established good conduct." In contrast, a commutation reduces or removes a criminal sentence, but does not "change the fact of conviction" or "imply innocence." Both actions are forms of executive clemency.
In a statement, Biden stated that his decision to commute death row prisoners is consistent with his stance against the death penalty and that he does not consider these commutations as any sort of recognition of good conduct from the prisoners (emphasis ours):
Today I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.
Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss.
But, guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.
A full list of Biden's commutations from his presidency is available on the Office of the Pardon Attorney website. A search of this list showed only one person who received a commutation for a crime involving sexual assault: Richard Allen Jackson, who was convicted of first-degree murder in which he sexually abused his victim.
Specific Clemency Cases
The Office of the Pardon Attorney also offers a full list of Biden's pardons. A search of this list found only one person convicted of murder: Beverly Ann Ibn-Tamas, who was convicted of second-degree murder for killing her husband in 1976. She was sentenced to one to five years' incarceration and was free at the time of Biden's 2022 pardon.
Ibn-Tamas, who was pregnant at the time of the killing, testified that her husband had "recurring violent episodes" and threatened her with a gun and assaulted her shortly before she shot him.
Biden did not reduce or remove any murder sentences through commutation. However, on Jan. 17, 2025, Biden commuted a drug-related sentence given to Adrian Peeler, who previously served a Connecticut prison sentence for conspiracy to commit the murder of a woman and her 8-year-old son in January 1999.
Peeler finished his 20-year state sentence before beginning his federal sentence. Biden reduced Peeler's 15-year federal sentence for dealing large amounts of crack cocaine, which now expires Feb. 17, 2025. Peeler was one of nearly 2,500 people whose nonviolent drug offense sentence Biden commuted in January 2025.
In a statement, Biden said he was attempting to correct sentencing disparities between sentences for crack and powder cocaine.
Today's clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes. As Congress recognized through the Fair Sentencing Act and the First Step Act, it is time that we equalize these sentencing disparities. This action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities after spending far too much time behind bars.
According to the bipartisan and independent United States Sentencing Commission, the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine came from "mistaken beliefs" about the dangers of crack versus powder cocaine and resulted in more severe sentences for Black people.
Biden's commutation for Peeler reportedly drew outrage from the victims' family and criticism from Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Connecticut. Biden has not publicly addressed his decision to commute Peeler's sentence; Snopes will update this story if he does.
Snopes has previously fact-checked other claims about executive clemency, including a claim that Biden pardoned Chinese spies and a sex offender and that he issued more pardons than any other U.S. president.