President Biden is flirting with handing out preemptive pardons to some of President-elect Donald Trump’s favorite political targets.

In an interview with USA Today, Mr. Biden said he might hand out the get-out-of-jail-free cards to, among others, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Mr. Biden said he urged Mr. Trump when he met with him in November to put his beef with Ms. Cheney, who voted to impeach him and co-chaired the Jan. 6 special committee, and others behind him.

“I tried to make clear that there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores,” Mr. Biden said.

He said Mr. Trump didn’t indicate what he planned to do.

“He didn’t reinforce it. He just basically listened,” Mr. Biden said.

Mr. Biden is also reportedly considering a preemptive pardon for Sen. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who also played a high-profile role in the House investigation into Mr. Trump’s role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

If Mr. Biden pulls the trigger, it would be outside the norm.

Pardons are usually reserved for people convicted or charged with a specific crime, not those who haven’t even been investigated for wrongdoing.

However, Mr. Biden has signaled he believes the move might be warranted, given liberals’ view that Mr. Trump might seek retribution against his enemies.

Mr. Trump told NBC News last month that Ms. Cheney, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, and other current and former members of Congress involved in the Jan. 6 investigation “should go to jail.” 

“Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps,” Mr. Trump said on NBC News last month. 

Mr. Fauci also has had a bull’s-eye on his back. 

Mr. Trump and his MAGA loyalists have insisted that Mr. Fauci tried to hide information regarding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Plus, the former director is a chief target of vaccine critics.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has reiterated the idea that he is considering pardons for some of his supporters charged with Jan. 6 crimes.

“We’ll be looking at the whole thing, but I’ll be making major pardons, yes,” Mr. Trump said at a press conference Tuesday.

The president-elect has also signaled he could use the justice system to go after special prosecutor Jack Smith, who led the Department of Justice’s investigation into Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump has nominated Kash Patel to lead the FBI and Pam Bondi to serve as attorney general.

For his part, Mr. Biden made a splash on the pardon front last month when he pardoned his son Hunter from a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions despite previously promising not to do so. 

He also used the power of the presidency to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 federal death row inmates — a move that infuriated some of the families and friends of the victims.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.