Just hours before the inauguration of his successor Donald Trump, outgoing US President Joe Biden has preemptively pardoned several Trump critics.
Among those pardoned are immunologist Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley, and members of the House of Representatives’ investigative committee, who had been investigating the violent storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, as the White House announced on Monday.
This is to protect them from “baseless and politically motivated investigations”, Biden said. “The granting of these pardons should not be misunderstood as an acknowledgment of wrongdoing”, he added.
Trump had previously threatened to take action against individuals who had politically attacked or attempted to hold him accountable for his role in the storming of the US Capitol in a second term.