Hannity Reportedly Told Trump to Consider Pardoning Hunter Biden to ‘Smooth Things Over’ After Capitol Riot: ‘He Was Intrigued’
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In the wake of the 2021 Capitol riot, Fox News host Sean Hannity suggested to outgoing President Donald Trump that he pardon Hunter Biden.
The Daily Beast confirmed on Tuesday the “Hunter” mentioned by Hannity in a Jan. 7, 2021 exchange with then-White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is in fact the son of President Joe Biden.
During Thursday night’s hearing of the Jan. 6 committee, the panel displayed text messages between Hannity and McEnany in which the host advised her that the president not associate himself with “crazy people.”
She replied, “Yes 100%.”
Texts between Sean Hannity and then-WH press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany: pic.twitter.com/OsHa8Jxgn1
— Rose Wagner (@rosemwagner) June 10, 2022
Hannity subsequently counseled there should be “no more stolen election talk,” after Trump had spent two months claiming the election was rigged against him.
The Fox News host also told McEnany, “He was intrigued by the Pardon idea!! (Hunter).” This seems to indicate Hannity had spoken to Trump about a potential pardon of someone named Hunter – possibly Hunter Biden.
In a report that dropped Friday, The Daily Beast stated that Hannity suggested Trump pardon Biden to “smooth things over” after the riot.
The Beast cited a source familiar with Hannity’s conversations with Trump.
“According to the source, Hannity proposed that Trump issue a last-minute pardon for Hunter Biden, whose business dealings had two years prior been at the center of the ex-president’s campaign to extort an investigation out of the Ukrainian government—efforts that led to Trump’s first impeachment in 2019,” the report said.
Ultimately, however, Trump did not issue the pardon.
