WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)— US President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons on Monday to former COVID advisor Anthony Fauci and retired general Mark Milley to shield them from potential “politically motivated prosecutions” under the Trump administration.

In an extraordinary move in his last hours in the White House, Biden gave similar pardons to members, staff and witnesses of the US House committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters.

“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 a statement. “But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing.

“These public servants have served our nation with honour and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.”

Trump, who will be sworn in as the 47th US president on Monday, has repeatedly promised “retribution” against his political opponents and threatened some with criminal prosecution.

Fauci, who led the country’s fight against the COVID pandemic during Trump’s first term, has become a hate figure for many on the right, including Trump ally Elon Musk, who has called for the scientist to be prosecuted.

Trump was enraged after Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told journalist Bob Woodward that the Republican was “fascist to the core” and a “dangerous person.”

Milley also revealed that he had secretly called his Chinese counterpart after the Capitol attack to reassure Beijing that the United States remained “stable” and had no intention to attack China.

Trump subsequently wrote on his Truth Social network that “in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” for Milley.

Milley thanked Biden for his executive action.

“I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights,” he said in a statement.

Fauci also thanked Biden for the pardon, according to US media reports, but stressed “I have committed no crime.”

Responding to the report, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr urged Fauci to turn the pardon down “if he did nothing wrong.”

The members of the January 6 committee include former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney and a fierce Trump critic.

Adam Schiff, a Democrat who was a member of the committee and is now a US senator from California, responded to reports of the preemptive pardons being considered in December by saying he would be against such a move.

“I don’t think the idea of a blanket pardon of some kind is a good idea,” Schiff said at the time.

In his statement, Biden said “baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.”

The Democrat added that the pardons “should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”

Trump has regularly complained of being the victim of “lawfare” under the Biden administration after being criminally prosecuted for offenses, including trying to subvert the 2020 election.

Monday’s moves were the latest in a slew of pardons and clemencies Biden has granted in his final days in office, including commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people in one day — and the controversial pardon of his son Hunter.

Trump has described jailed supporters who took part in the January 6 attack on the Capitol as “patriots” and “political prisoners” and said he plans to issue pardons for some of them.

Former president Richard Nixon received a pre-emptive pardon from his successor, Gerald Ford, after resigning in disgrace in 1974 because of the Watergate scandal.