US President Donald Trump, in his first interview after assuming office, has hinted that former President Joe Biden may be prosecuted for his alleged corruption. Trump was responding to a query on Biden's decision to give last-minute preemptive pardons to members of his own family.
Trump said Biden received "very bad advice" to pardon five relatives — but not himself. "You know what the funny thing — maybe the sad thing — is? He didn’t give himself a pardon," Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. "And if you look at it, it all had to do with him — I mean, the money went to him."
Trump, who has earlier too hinted that he wanted 'retribution', has claimed that Biden used the Justice Department against him and other Republicans. "I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution," Trump told the audience during a campaign rally in June.
The President added that he didn't give blanket pardons to himself or any of his allies at the end of his first stint in the White House. "I was given the option, they said sir would you like to pardon everybody, including yourself. I said I'm not going to pardon anybody, we didn't do anything wrong," he added.
He said he went through "four years of hell" about the four criminal cases he faced as he campaigned against Biden and then Kamala Harris. "I spent millions of dollars in legal fees, and I won, but I did it the hard way. It’s really hard to say that they shouldn’t have to go through it all. So it’s very hard to say that," he added.
The President said a number of his people "suffered", including his longtime political strategist Steve Bannon. "You had Bannon put in jail, you had Peter Navarro put in jail, you had people who suffered," Trump said.
"Remember this. Joe Biden got very bad advice. Joe Biden has very bad advisors. Somebody advised Joe Biden to give pardons to everybody but him," Trump said.
On whether he had ordered the Department of Justice to investigate the former president, Trump added: "Look, he didn’t give himself a pardon, and he didn’t give some other people a pardon that needed it," Trump replied.
Biden has said that he wouldn’t pardon himself because he didn’t do anything wrong.