With just a few hours remaining in office, President Joe Biden issued a slew of pardons Monday morning to preemptively protect people President-elect Donald Trump had threatened. Biden pardoned former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, members and staff on the committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before that committee. The panel’s members included Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who was then a House member; former Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Elaine Luria, D-Va., and Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.; and current Reps. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. Inauguration Day 7 hours ago Live updates: Donald Trump sworn in as 47th president on Inauguration Day Inauguration Day 6 hours ago Cold, rain, snow and maybe a death: Here's how weather has impacted past inaugurations Inauguration Day 6 hours ago What music is traditionally played at the inauguration? The police officers who testified before the committee included Harry Dunn, Aquilino Gonell, Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges.  In a statement, Biden said that some of the people he pre-emptively pardoned were “threatened with criminal prosecutions” and that he “cannot in good conscience do nothing.”  “These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions,” he wrote.  The president said Milley served the U.S. for more than 40 years and “guided our Armed Forces through complex global security threats and strengthened our existing alliances while forging new ones.” Fauci, he said, saved lives managing responses to HIV/AIDS and the Ebola and Zika viruses and then he helped the country “tackle a once-in-a-century pandemic,” referring to Covid-19.  Biden defended the members of the Jan. 6 committee and slammed people — though he didn’t name Trump — who have attacked and threatened them. The president-elect said members of the Jan. 6 should be investigated and jailed. “Rather than accept accountability, those who perpetrated the January 6th attack have taken every opportunity to undermine and intimidate those who participated in the Select Committee in an attempt to rewrite history, erase the stain of January 6th for partisan gain, and seek revenge, including by threatening criminal prosecutions,” Biden wrote.  Biden said “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 in fact have done the right thing — and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances,” he said.  The pardons, the president said, shouldn’t be misinterpreted as an acknowledgment that these people engaged in wrongdoing. In a statement, Milley said he and his family are “deeply grateful for the President’s action today.” “After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights,” he said. “I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety.” This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.  More from NBC News: Trump to sign more than 50 executive orders on first day Republicans face a high-stakes clash over Trump’s legislative agenda The economy starts the year in solid shape. Now it’s in Trump’s hands.