The US president used the final hours of his presidency to issue preemptive pardons to those he described as potentially being a target of "unjustified (and) politically motivated prosecutions", as well as a number of close family members.
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Outgoing US President Joe Biden on Monday pardoned Dr Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley and members of a House committee that investigated the Capitol Hill riot on 6 January 2021 in an unprecedented move aimed at protecting those impacted from potential revenge by the Trump administration. In the final minutes of his presidency, he also pardoned several close family members.
“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgement that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offence,” Biden said in a statement, adding that the US "owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.”
The preemptive decision comes after Donald Trump, who is due to be inaugurated as president of the US on Monday, warned of an "enemies list" featuring those who have targeted him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his role in the Capitol Hill riots.
Although it is customary for a president to grant pardons at the end of his term, it's normally offered to everyday US citizens who have been convicted of crimes. With this move, Biden is pardoning individuals who haven't been investigated yet.
Fauci was Biden’s chief medical adviser until his retirement in 2022, best known for helping to coordinate the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was targeted by Trump when he refused to back his claims about the virus.
Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Trump a "fascist" and detailed Trump’s conduct around the Capitol Hill insurrection. In a statement, Milley said he was “deeply grateful” for Biden’s action.
The pardons also include members and staff of the 6 January committee, including former Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both Republicans, and the US Capitol and DC Metropolitan police officers who testified before the committee.
In the final minutes of his presidency prior to Donald Trump's inauguration, five members of his family also received pardons - his younger brother, James Biden, and his wife, his younger sister, Valerie Biden Owens, and her husband as well as his younger brother, Francis W. Biden.
The former president wrote in a statement that "My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me -- the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end."
Biden promised a smooth transition to the next administration, but during his farewell address, he warned of a growing oligarchy of "tech billionaires" in the US.
With his final act as president, Biden has set the record for the most individual pardons and commutations issued as president. On Friday, he announced he would commute the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offences.
Last month, he also commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on death row, converting their sentences to life imprisonment instead of execution.