President Biden pre-emptively pardoned Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the House Jan. 6 committee, hours before Trump's inauguration.

President Biden said the pardons are not an "acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing" but rather protect individuals from "unjustified and politically motivated prosectutions."

U.S. President Joe Biden has pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and retired general Mark Milley, to guard against potential retaliation by the incoming Donald Trump administration.