President Donald Trump delivered a comical rebuttal during his first interview from the Oval Office with Fox News’s Sean Hannity. As the president addressed the sweeping preemptive pardons delivered by President Joe Biden in the final hours of his presidency on Inauguration Day, Hannity expressed that he wanted to discuss the economy. Trump hit back, stating that the current topic was more important.
Trump informed Hannity that it was odd that former President Biden “to give pardons to everybody but him.” As Trump continued to expound on this topic, Hannity interjected that he wanted to “get to the economy” adding that he was “running out of time.” The president simply replied, “I don’t care,” in hilarious Trump fashion, unconcerned with Hannity’s agenda.
At another point in the interview, Trump further criticized the pardons, which demonstrated a substantial fear that Trump would retaliate against his political enemies. “And you know, the funny thing, maybe the sad thing is, he didn’t give himself a pardon,” Trump told the Fox News host. Biden issued pardons to numerous family members, the January 6 Committee, Dr. Fauci, and more,
Later in the discussion, Trump highlighted what he went through over the past few years. “Well, I went through four years of hell by this scum that we had to deal with. I went through four years of hell. I spent millions of dollars in legal fees, and I won, but I did it the hard way. And it’s really hard to say that they shouldn’t have to go through it all. So it is very hard to say that,” he said.
However, The American Tribune recently reported on a possible unintended consequence of the pardons where legal experts have suggested they could entirely backfire on the recipients. Reports indicate that when a person receives a pardon it revokes their ability to exercise their Fifth Amendment rights to avoid giving incriminating testimony if subpoenaed before Congress.
Federal litigation attorney Jesse Binnall recently weighed in on the pardons on X, explaining, “The pardons are actually great news. No one who was just pardoned will be able to refuse to testify in a civil, criminal, or congressional proceeding based upon the 5th Amendment. And let’s just be realistic. Most of these disgusting individuals would probably have to be charged in Washington, DC, which doesn’t convict partisan leftists.”
He added, “A requirement of asserting the 5th Amendment is that one has to reasonably believe that the information sought could be used in a criminal prosecution. While I’m not aware of any specific cases where a pardoned individual has attempted to assert the 5th Amendment on such circumstances, it’s difficult to see any legal basis for an assertion in regards to pardoned conduct.”
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Watch Trump and Hannity below:
Biden said about his pardons, “I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. 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.”
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.