President Joe Biden has issued several preemptive pardons to public servants who may have faced legal persecution under the incoming Trump administration.
Among those pardoned by the outgoing Biden administration include Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci led the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic response and has been at the center of numerous conspiracy theories involving the virus.
Retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also received a pardon from Biden. Milley first served under Trump but continued under Biden after he won the 2020 election. He criticized the president-elect for his efforts to overturn that election and oversaw the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a blemish on his long record of service.
The members and staff of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, as well as the U.S. Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee, have also been pardoned by Biden.
The president shared in a statement that the pardons are meant to serve as protection for those who were serving their nation.
“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,” Biden said in a statement.
The pardons were issued in Biden’s final 24 hours as president, as Trump will officially be president once again at noon today.
Biden had previously discussed granting pardons such as these in recent weeks, looking to protect those who Trump may have targeted despite not having “engaged in any wrongdoing.”