In his final hours as president, Biden pardons Capitol attack investigators, even though there is no investigation against them.

US President Joe Biden has issued a "preliminary pardon" to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the Capitol, using in the last hours the powers granted by the Oval Office to protect them against possible "retaliation" from the incoming Trump administration.

Biden's decision comes after Donald Trump warned of an enemies list, filled with those who have sought to hold him accountable for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss, and his role in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, reports the AP.

"Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country," Biden said in a statement. 

It is common for a president to grant pardons at the end of his term, but these acts are usually offered to citizens convicted of crimes. 

But Biden has used the power in the broadest and most unprecedented way: to pardon even those who have not even been investigated yet. 

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 top medical adviser until his retirement in 2022. He helped coordinate the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and incurred Trump's wrath when he refused to support Trump's unfounded claims. 

He has become the target of intense hatred from right-wingers, who blame him for mask measures and other policies they believed violated their rights, even as tens of thousands of Americans were dying.

Mark Milley is the former Chief of Staff and called Trump a fascist because of the deadly uprising of January 6, 2021.

Biden has also pardoned members and staff of the January 6 Committee, including former representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both Republicans, as well as the US Congressional Metropolitan Police officers who testified before the Committee.

Biden, an institutionalist, has promised a smooth transition, inviting Trump to the White House and saying the nation will be fine, even as he warned during his farewell speech about a growing oligarchy. 

He has spent years warning that Trump's re-ascension to the presidency would be a threat to democracy.