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Biden pardons Fauci and Milley in an effort to guard against potential ‘revenge’ by Trump

US Biden Pardons FILE - Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks during the presentation of his book "On Call" at Lincoln Theatre Friday, June 21, 2024, in Washington. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

WASHINGTON — (AP) — President Joe Biden has pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, using the extraordinary powers of his office in his final hours to guard against potential “revenge” by the incoming Trump administration.

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The decision by Biden comes after Donald Trump warned of an enemies list filled with those who have crossed him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and his role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Trump has selected Cabinet nominees who backed his election lies and who have pledged to punish those involved in efforts to investigate him.

Read: Biden urges Americans to ‘keep the faith’ as he spends final full day as president in South Carolina

Fauci was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 40 years and was Biden’s chief medical advisor until his retirement in 2022.

He helped coordinate the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic an raised the ire of Trump when he refused to back Trump’s unfounded claims.

Read: Biden pardons the late Black nationalist Marcus Garvey as well as 4 others and commutes 2 sentences

He has become a target of intense hatred and vitriol from people on the right, who blame him for mask mandates and other policies they believe infringe on their rights, even as tens of thousands of Americans were dying.

Mark Milley, who is the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and called Trump a fascist and detailed Trump’s conduct around the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.

Read: Trump returning to power after unprecedented comeback, emboldened to reshape American institutions

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