WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons on Monday to former Covid pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley and close family members to shield them from “politically motivated prosecutions” under the Trump administration.

In an extraordinary move in his last hours in the White House, Biden gave similar pardons to former Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney and other members of the congressional committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters. Biden also commuted to home confinement the life sentence of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, 80, who has been imprisoned for nearly 50 years for the 1975 murders of two FBI agents.

“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 announcing the pardons of Fauci, Milley and the members and staff of the January 6 committee.

“But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” he said. “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.” 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.”