President Joe Biden confirmed in an interview with USA Today that he is considering preemptive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney.

Following Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter (after months of insisting he would not do so), Politico reported that the president was considering pardoning those he thinks President-elect Donald Trump may target, including Fauci, Cheney and Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff. Biden told USA Today that he has not made a decision on whether or not he will pardon them in his last 12 days in office and that it depends on who Trump appoints to his cabinet. (RELATED: Liberal Media Lays Groundwork For Mass Pardons Of Deep State Minions — And Apparently Biden’s Team Is Listening)

“Well, a little bit of it depends on who he puts in what positions. If in fact, he … here’s how … I was very straightforward with Trump when he got elected. I invited him immediately to the White House. I spent two hours with him,” the president said about the preemptive pardons.

“He talked about, he was very complimentary about some of the economic things I had done. And he talked about − he thought I was leaving with a good record, kind of thing. I tried to make it clear that there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores,” he added.

USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page asked the president if Trump gave him an answer on what he planned on doing once sworn in to office. Biden said he did not give him an answer and “just basically listened.”

“So you haven’t decided yet. You’re still assessing this issue?” Page asked.

“Well, no, I have not. For example, I think there are certain people like, if he were to, I don’t want to name their names. I’ll tell you off the record. [REDACTED]. But there are other parties that we’re following through on to determine that, rectifying some of the, correcting powder-cocaine difference, things like that,” the president responded. USA Today redacted information told to the outlet off the record.

“More traditional kind of pardons,” Page followed up.

“Yeah,” Biden responded.

A May 2024 report from the House Oversight Committee showed that David Morens, a former senior adviser to Fauci, both deleted emails to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and told people multiple times to contact him at his personal email address to get around such requests. The aide also suggested in his emails, obtained by the House committee, that Fauci uses a private email address to conduct his government business. Similarly, Morens told others to communicate with Fauci at a private email address for similar reasons. (RELATED: ‘This Is Very Illegal’: Experts Say Fauci’s Top Aide Likely Broke The Law By Deleting Emails, Using Private Account)

“This is very illegal,” Matthew Hardin, a lawyer specializing in issues related to FOIA, previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“The Federal Records Act has strict requirements for preserving agency records in the agency’s custody for various reasons, including for purposes of facilitating the agency’s compliance with the Freedom of Information Act,” he continued. “This means that anybody conducting agency business through a ‘secret’ back channel or through Gmail is still creating a federal record, even if they are wrongfully concealing that record on a personal account instead of the government’s custody.”