UPDATE (January 20, 2025, 11:57 1.m. ET): In his final moments as president, Joe Biden also issued pardons for several members of his family: James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden. They come more than a month after the outgoing president also pardoned his son, Hunter Biden.

For weeks, there’s been speculation and White House debate about whether President Joe Biden would issue pre-emptive pardons for those who might be targeted by Donald Trump. As Inauguration Day approached, it appeared that the retiring Democrat had decided not to pursue such an approach.

Those appearances were wrong. With just hours remaining in his term, Biden issued pardons for:

• Ret. Gen. Mark Milley
• Dr. Anthony Fauci
• Members and staffers of the House Jan. 6 committee
• Police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 committee

The pardons come roughly a month after the president-elect appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and said former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and her colleagues on the Jan. 6 panel “should go to jail.”

As for Milley, whom Trump appointed to serve as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during his first term, the Republican has falsely accused the retired general of having committed a “treasonous act” in the wake of his 2020 defeat. “[I]n times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” Trump wrote on his social media platform.

“Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day,” the outgoing president said in a written statement, which did not reference his Republican successor by name. “They are the lifeblood of our democracy. Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties.”

“In certain cases, some have even been threatened with criminal prosecutions, including General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and the members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. 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 possibility of these pardons generated no shortage of public post-election discussion, and the idea has long been straightforward: Biden, proponents have argued, has a responsibility to shield innocent people from potential — by some measures, likely — prosecutorial abuses before they happen. In other words, if the incoming Republican president and his team are serious about seeking revenge, and they fully intend to act on their retaliatory ambitions, it was up to the outgoing Democratic president to prevent this from happening.

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By most measures, this was not an easy call. But with hours remaining before Trump’s second inaugural, Biden concluded that unique circumstances require a unique remedy.

“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” the outgoing president added in his statement. “Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong — and in fact have done the right thing — and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.”

Biden concluded, “The issuance of these 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. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.”

While the president acted to protect these individuals, it remains unclear, at least for now, whether the affected people will accept these pardons, though Milley issued a statement expressing gratitude to the retiring president.