Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told The Hill he intends to accept the pardon preemptively offered to him by President Biden on Monday.
Fauci said in an email that the White House approached him about the pardon about a month ago and that he did not ask for one.
Still, he’s “very appreciative and grateful” for the clemency.
In a separate statement, he said that he has been the subject of “politically motivated threats” of prosecution but insisted there is no basis for them.
“Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me,” Fauci said in the statement. “The fact is, however, that the mere articulation of these baseless threats, and the potential that they will be acted upon, create immeasurable and intolerable distress for me and my family.”
Fauci, the face of the nation’s COVID-19 pandemic response, was criticized by Trump and his allies for efforts to refute Trump’s unsubstantiated claims about the virus and urging Americans to be vaccinated. He became the de facto subject of blame for masking mandates and other precautions taken to stop the virus from spreading.
The former NIAID director served as an advisor to seven U.S. presidents from both parties, spanning former President Reagan to Biden.
Biden also granted preemptive pardons to Gen. Mark Milley, members and staff of the House Jan. 6 committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, and several police officers who testified before the committee.
