Hannity urges Trump to pardon himself

Sean Hannity said on his radio and television shows Monday that he thinks President Trump should pardon himself in order to avoid a potential prosecution from the incoming Biden administration.

The conservative host referred to an op-ed by a former member of the special counsel’s office, Andrew Weissman, arguing for Trump to be investigated and potentially prosecuted by the next administration.

“If that’s what they want to do, if Biden ever became president, I’d tell Trump to pardon yourself and pardon your family,” Hannity said on his Fox News show late Monday.

Sean Hannity tonight: “I’d tell President Trump to pardon yourself and pardon your family”pic.twitter.com/hMx7bE6WU1

— Robert Costa (@costareports) December 1, 2020

Hannity made similar comments on his radio show earlier in the day, warning that Democrats “want this witch hunt to go on in perpetuity.”

Hannity is one of Trump’s most vocal media supporters and is said to have major influence over the president.

His comments came days after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), one of Trump’s biggest allies in Congress, also urged the president to pardon himself and those around him.

“President Trump should pardon Michael Flynn,” Gaetz said during a Fox News interview. “He should pardon the Thanksgiving turkey. He should pardon everyone from himself to his administration officials to Joe Exotic if he has to.”

No president has ever tried to pardon himself, and many legal scholars are skeptical that such a move would be constitutional. When President Nixon was considering pardoning himself at the end of his administration, the Department of Justice issued a memo in 1974 saying it would not be legal.