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Joe Biden has issued pre-emptive pardons to Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney and Mark Milley in one of his final acts as US president.
The move comes as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to exact vengeance against a list of enemies once he re-enters the White House on Monday.
Trump has threatened Fauci, the former chief medical adviser to the president, with legal action over his role in overseeing the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Milley, a former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has a long history of animosity with Trump, warning in the run-up to last year’s election that he was a “fascist to the core”.
Cheney, a prominent Republican, campaigned against Trump in last year’s presidential election and served as vice-chair of the Congressional investigation into the January 6 2021 storming of the Capitol.
Biden said he was pardoning the members of Congress and staff who served on the committee as well as police officers who testified to it.
“Alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties,” Biden said in a statement.
This is a developing story
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