Speculation is mounting over whether Trump will take the unprecedented and legally murky step of issuing himself and his children, who work as campaign and White House advisors, preemptive pardons.

Giuliani attributed his sudden departure to his role in the January 6 "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington, D.C. that immediately preceded the storming of the U.S. Capitol by hundreds of Trump supporters.

After the riots, advisers encouraged Trump to forgo a self-pardon because it would appear like he was guilty of something, according to one person familiar with the conversations.

Trump is scheduled to leave Washington, D.C., on the morning of January 20 to begin his post-presidential life in Florida.

But the 78-year-old Democrat's fervent appeals for optimism and healing - which are also set to dominate his inauguration ceremony at noon on Wednesday - are running up against the hard reality of multiple crises.

So far, defense officials have said there is no evidence of any internal threats and that nothing has been flagged.

While Trump is expected to skip the ceremony in which Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will be sworn in, outgoing Vice President Mike Pence will attend Biden's inauguration to support a peaceful transition of power, three sources close to Pence told Politico.

He told The Boston Herald, however, that he would defend Trump in the "court of public opinion" but would not be a part of his legal team.

Rudy Giuliani told ABC News that he would not be able to represent President Donald Trump during Trump's second impeachment trial because he was a witness in the case.

Trump's pardons of Flynn, Manafort, Roger Stone, George Papadopoulos, and Alex Van Der Zwaan - who all pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into whether the Trump campaign conspired with Moscow during the 2016 election - angered the Russian Federation meddling investigators.

Aides said Trump was singularly focused on the Electoral College count in the days ahead of time, precluding him for making final decisions on pardons. According to theThe New York Times, several Trump associates have been charging people tens of thousands of dollars for their "access" to the president and a potential pardon.

The Post reported that Trump wants Dan Scavino, social media director and White House deputy chief of staff for communications, to lead the ambitious effort. The offer was given to John Kiriakou, a former Central Intelligence Agency operative, during his meeting with Giuliani and his associates at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.

Claiming that he refused the offer, Kiriakou said, "I laughed".

The Fox report corroborates a previous Reuters report which revealed that the president is leaving himself off of the pardon list. Just before Thanksgiving, he pardoned Michael Flynn, who had briefly served as Trump's first national security adviser and was later accused of lying to the FBI during its investigation of Russian interference in Trump's 2016 election win.