WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Army veteran Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, announcing a potential “revenge” in his final hours. exercised presidential privilege to prevent “. ” was announced by the incoming Trump administration.

Biden’s decision comes after Donald Trump has criticized political opponents, his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss and his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. This was done after warning that there was a long list of enemies who were trying to pin the blame. , 2021. President Trump selected cabinet nominees who supported his election lies and promised to punish those involved in his investigative efforts.

“The issuance of these pardons should not be misconstrued as an admission that an individual has engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance of a pardon be misconstrued as an admission of guilt of any crime,” Biden said in a statement. It shouldn’t be done.” “Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless service to our country.”

The pardon, announced with just hours left in the president’s term, has been the subject of intense debate at the highest levels of the White House for months. It is customary for presidents to grant pardons at the end of their terms, but such acts of mercy are usually given to Americans who have been convicted of a crime. Biden has used his power in the broadest and most untested way possible, pardoning people who haven’t even been investigated yet. This decision lays the groundwork for even broader use of pardons by President Trump and future presidents.

The Supreme Court ruled last year that presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution for what they consider official acts, but no such shield is afforded to the president’s aides and allies. There are concerns that President Trump or future presidents could use the promise of a full pardon to encourage allies to take actions they might resist for fear of breaking the law.

Trump, who will be inaugurated at noon, promised in his first moments as president to pardon many people involved in the violent and bloody attack on January 6, 2021, which injured about 140 law enforcement officers. .

It is unclear whether those pardoned by Biden will need to apply for a pardon or even accept the offer at all. Even if pardonees have not been formally charged with a crime, any acceptance could be seen as a tacit admission of guilt or wrongdoing, a long-standing attack by Mr. Trump and his supporters. will be justified.

“This is an exceptional situation and we cannot do anything out of conscience,” Biden said, “even if the individual has done nothing wrong and is actually doing the right thing. , even if he is ultimately acquitted, that is just a fact.” An investigation or prosecution could cause irreparable reputational and financial damage. ”

Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 40 years, including during President Trump’s term, and then served as Biden’s chief medical adviser until his retirement in 2022. He served as Biden’s chief medical adviser. It sparked the coronavirus pandemic and drew the ire of President Trump, who resisted his untested public health concepts. Since then, Fauci has been the target of intense hatred and vitriol from those on the right, who have accused him of violating mask mandates and their rights even as hundreds of thousands of people have died. Fauci has been criticized for other possible policies.

Mark Milley is the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He then called Trump a fascist and detailed his actions surrounding the deadly January 6, 2021, riot.

Biden also testified before the committee about members and staff of the Jan. 6 committee that investigated the attack, as well as their experiences that day when the Capitol and Washington were overrun by an angry and violent mob. He also pardoned officers from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. Supporters.

The commission spent 18 months investigating Trump and the violent insurrection of January 6, 2021. The committee was chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) and Republican Liz Cheney, who later campaigned and pledged to vote for Democrat Kamala Harris. with her. The commission’s final report found that Donald Trump was criminally involved in “multiple conspiracies” to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to prevent his supporters from storming the Capitol. It was recognized that

“Rather than accept responsibility, those who carried out the January 6th attacks have seized every opportunity to rewrite history, erase the stain of January 6th for partisan strategy, and seek revenge. They have used this to undermine and intimidate those who served on the task force,” Biden said.

Biden’s statement did not name any members or staff members.

“These public servants serve our country with honor and honor and do not deserve to be subject to unwarranted and politically motivated prosecutions,” Biden said.

Mr. Biden, an institutionalist, invited Mr. Trump to the White House and, despite warnings about the growth of the oligarchy in his farewell speech, said the country would be fine and promised a smooth transition to the next administration. He has spent years warning that Trump would be a threat to democracy if he became president again. His decision to break with political norms with a pre-emptive pardon was driven by these concerns.

Biden set a presidential record for the most individual pardons and commutations. On Friday, he announced commuting the sentences of about 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug crimes. He previously announced that he would commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 federal death row inmates, converting them to life in prison, weeks before President Trump, a vocal supporter of expanding the death penalty, took office. During his first term, Trump oversaw an unprecedented spate of 13 executions during a lengthy schedule amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden is not the first to consider such a preemptive pardon. Trump’s aides say he and his supporters were involved in his failed attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which culminated in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. , considering amnesty. That never happened until he retired four years ago.

In 1974, Gerald Ford granted his predecessor Richard Nixon a “complete, gratuitous, absolute pardon” for the Watergate scandal. As written in his pardon proclamation, he said a trial would “concern the merits of subjecting a person who has already paid the unprecedented penalty of relinquishing the highest elected office in the United States to further punishment and degradation.” “I thought it would spark a long and divisive debate.”

Long and Miller are contributors to The Associated Press.