Trump proposes investigations into Biden and individuals he pardoned

President Donald Trump appeared to suggest Wednesday that former President Joe Biden should be investigated and should even have pardoned himself on the way out of the White House. Trump did not specify what offenses the former president may have committed, only that his predecessor should endure the kind of legal scrutiny he endured before he was reelected. “I went through four years of hell by this scum that we had to deal with,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “I went through four years of hell. I spent millions of dollars of legal fees and I won.” “But I did it the hard way,” the president continued. “It’s really hard to say they shouldn’t have to go through it also.” Underscoring his point, Trump chastised Biden for giving pardons to several of his family members as well as political allies and pointed out one person the former president did not pardon. “The funny thing, maybe the sad thing, is he didn't give himself a pardon,” Trump said. Trump was investigated for attempting to overthrow the results of the 2020 election and refusing to return classified documents, among other offenses, but powered his way through the legal system, helped in large part by a Supreme Court ruling that found presidents have immunity for official actions — a ruling that would likely help Biden were he to face an investigation. Trump, who has repeatedly suggested he would prosecute some of his Democratic political enemies once he returned to the White House, said he was “always against” asking the Department of Justice to investigate his past political foes, including Hillary Clinton, whom he defeated in the 2016 presidential election. Trump appeared more open when asked if he would instruct his attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, to investigate Biden and the subjects of his last-minute pardon. “Those people that he pardoned are now mandated, because they got a pardon, to testify, and they can’t take the 5th,” Trump said, referring to a slew of Biden’s family members, Anthony Fauci and dozens of people involved with the Jan. 6 panel, which brought forward the investigation into the violent attack on the Capitol and eventually recommended that Trump never hold public office again. Asked if Congress — both chambers of which are controlled by Republicans — should investigate the pardons, Trump replied: “I think we’ll let Congress decide.” Trump’s legal troubles weren’t the only old wounds he still appeared to be holding onto during the wide-ranging, hour-long interview with the friendly conservative pundit. The president defended his decision to pardon over 1,500 of the rioters who stormed the Capitol in a violent mob as Congress certified the 2020 election, saying there “was a lot of patriotism with those people” and that the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, had been a “political hoax.” But Trump did have some praises to sing for Speaker Mike Johnson, who is “doing a terrific job,” he said. He also showed some love to the Republicans working alongside Johnson, who are “very unified” and a tough group to beat. The president helped Johnson cinch the speakership just a few weeks ago, and Johnson has since laid out an ambitious reconciliation plan to get “one big beautiful bill” passed. When asked if he favored the one-bill approach to budget reconciliation over multiple smaller bills, Trump said he doesn’t care, “as long as we get to the final answer.” The president said he “likes the concept” of one bill — showing an inclination toward Johnson’s plan — but wasn’t definitive on it. The bigger factor now, Trump said, is the damage from the wildfires in Los Angeles, which has “changed everything,” he told Hannity. Trump, who said he will travel to the deep-blue city on Friday to survey the wildfire damage on the first domestic trip of his term, railed about California's water policies and what he called mismanagement of its forests. “I don't think we should give California anything until they let water flow down,” said the president, referring to a misconception about how rain and snowmelt is managed in the state that he has repeated since the fires. But when asked if he would meet during his trip with California Gov. Gavin Newsom — with whom Trump often sparred during his first term — Trump said he “hadn’t even thought about it.” Trump also revealed that he had given the letter Biden left for him in the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office to the Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, who had frequently sparred with Biden’s White House and its press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre. “He just asked me a question about the letter, and I remember, like a custom you leave it in the drawer of that beautiful desk right alongside of us,” Trump said. “So I opened it up and I actually gave the letter to Peter.” Earlier Wednesday, Doocy confirmed Fox News had exclusively obtained the letter on the network’s show “Outnumbered.” Doocy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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