During his final hours in office, US President Joe Biden issued a number of pre-emptive pardons to prevent what he called “unjustified… politically motivated prosecutions”.

The pardons were for public officials including Anthony Fauci - who led the American response to Covid-19 - and people who investigated the riot at the US Capitol building in 2021.

Biden said this did not imply any “wrongdoing” by the group, but they faced the threat of baseless investigations as his rival Donald Trump returned to the US presidency.

Biden’s pardons cover all members of the House Select Committee investigating the riot - which includes Liz Cheney - as well as their staff members and the officers who testified.

Biden also issued a pre-emptive pardon to Mark Milley, a former chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff, who last year described Trump as “fascist to the core”.