With just hours left in his presidency, Joe Biden on Monday used the extraordinary powers of his office to issue pre-emptive pardons to former Covid-19 advisor Dr Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley and members of the House Committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
The move is seen as an attempt to guard them against the potential “revenge” by Donald Trump who takes oath as the new president later in the day.
Since winning the White House in November, Trump has repeatedly called for the prosecution of his perceived "enemies" who have crossed him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and his role in the Capitol attack.
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In a statement, Biden expressed concerns that some of the public servants were subjected to threats and intimidation for doing their job.
"These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions," he said.
Fauci was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 40 years, including during Trump's term in office. He later served as Biden's chief medical adviser until his retirement in 2022.
He drew Trump’s ire when he resisted the Republican’s untested public health notions.
Milley is the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He had called Trump a fascist and detailed Trump's conduct around the deadly January 6, 2021 insurrection.
Biden praised both Milley and Fauci as longtime dedicated public servants who have defended democracy and saved lives.
The House Committee that investigated the Capitol attack was led by US Rep Bennie Thompson and Republican Liz Cheney. The committee found that Trump criminally engaged in a conspiracy to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election.
Those who were issued pardons included all members of Congress who served on the panel, their staff and the US Capitol and Washington, DC police officers who testified before the committee.
"I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics," Biden said in his statement.