After the pardons were announced, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — both Republicans — posted to X claiming that issuing pardons to Fauci, Milley and others implied they were guilty of a crime, as did other right-leaning accounts on the platform.

Roughly five hours before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in for a second term, President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons.

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