Trump says he chose not to pardon himself: Didn't do anything wrong

US President Donald Trump revealed on Thursday that he declined the option to pardon himself before leaving office in 2021 as he believed he had done nothing wrong.

In his first Oval Office interview since assuming the presidency again, Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the suggestion of self-pardon was made as he was departing the White House after losing the 2020 election.

"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,’" Trump said during the hour-long interview, during which he often touched on past grievances.

Trump also took potshots at his predecessor, Joe Biden, for not issuing himself a pardon before leaving office, hinting that it was a mistake the Democrat may come to regret.

"This guy went around giving everybody pardons," the President said, referring to Biden granting clemency to criminal offenders, Trump critics and family members in his final days as commander-in-chief.

"And you know, the funny thing, maybe the sad thing, is he didn’t give himself a pardon. And if you look at it, it all had to do with him," Trump said.

The conversation then turned to Trump issuing “full, complete and unconditional” pardons for around 1,500 people involved in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The group included individuals convicted of violent acts. The move saw Trump fulfilling a campaign promise within the first few hours of his second term.

Hannity pressed the President on his decision to pardon convicts who had been violent toward police officers during the insurrection. He downplayed the incidents, describing them as “very minor.”

"They were protesting the vote because they knew the election was rigged, and you should be allowed to protest the vote," Trump claimed, continuing to falsely assert that the 2020 election was stolen, despite repeated court rulings, official findings, and the conclusions of his own attorney general to the contrary.

He added, "Some of those people with the police – true – but they were very minor incidents, OK. You know, they get built up by that couple of fake guys that are on CNN all the time."

When Hannity objected, noting that protesters should not invade the Capitol, Trump defended his decision, asserting that most of those pardoned were “innocent” and going through a tough time in prison. He added that going over every single case would be a long and laborious process.

"These people have served, horribly, a long time," he said. “It would be very, very cumbersome to go and look – you know how many people we’re talking about? 1,500 people.”

Trump’s mass pardons sparked immediate controversy, with judges who sentenced the rioters stating that the move won’t change the truth about the mob’s attack on a bastion of American democracy. On the other hand, Trump’s supporters viewed the clemency as justified for what they believe was an overreach in prosecutions.