WASHINGTON: One of outgoing US president Joe Biden`s final acts on Monday was the issuance of issued pre-emptive pardons for a number of officials and members of his immediate family to shield them from `politically motivated prosecutions` under the Trump administration.

In an extraordinary move in his final hours in the White House, Biden also gave pardons to members, staff and witnesses of a US House committee probing the violent January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack by Donald Trump`s supporters.

`These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politi-cally motivated prosecutions, Biden said in a statement.

`These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing.` Trump, who will be sworn in on Monday, has repeatedly promised `retribution` against his political opponents and threatened some with criminal prosecution.Former Covid-19 adviser Anthony Fauci and retired general Mark Milley were also among those pardoned.

Fauci became the face of the country`s fight against the Covid pandemic, but his straight-talking takes on the disease in Trump`s first term brought him into conflict with the Republican.It also turned the scientist into a hate figure for many on the right, including Elon Musk, Trump`s ally and the world`s richest man, who repeatedly called for Fauci to be prosecuted.

Trump was enraged after Milley, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump`s first term, told journalist Bob Woodward that Trump was `fascist to the core` and `the most dangerous person to this country`.

Milley also revealed that he had secretly called his Chinese counterpart after the Capitol attack to reassure Beijing that the United States remained `stable` and had no intention to attack China.

In a statement, Milley thanked Biden for his executive action.

`I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights,` the former general said.

US media reported that Fauci thanked Biden for the pardon, but stressed `I have committedno crime.

Responding to the report, Trump`s son Donald Trump Jr.

urged Fauci to turn the pardon down `if he did nothing wrong`.

`Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families,` wrote Biden.

Pardon for family members Monday`s moves were the latest in a slew of pardons and clemencies Biden has granted in his final days in office, including commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people in one day and the controversial pardon of his son Hunter.

But even more surprising was that in the final minutes of his presidency, the US president issued a full and unconditional pardon to members of his own family, including his brothers James B. Biden, Francis W.

Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens and her husband John T. Owens, and sister-in-law Sara Jones Biden.

A statement issued alongside thepardons quoted the outgoing president as saying: `My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me-the worst kind of partisan politics.

Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.

`I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But 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 will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of beinginvestigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances.

`The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense, the statement concluded.-Agencies