When Donald Trump pardoned Crazy Joe Arpaio, there was a smattering of criticism that lasted minutes, maybe an hour or two, before he did something else that caught the media’s attention. Joe Biden is unlikely to be so lucky when it comes to his issuance of a pardon to his son, Hunter, after the many disavowals that he would do so. Is the problem that he pardoned Hunter, that he flip-flopped, maybe lied, about not pardoning Hunter, or both?
He said he made the decision because the charges against Hunter were politically motivated and designed to hurt him politically.
“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Mr. Biden said in the statement. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong.”
The problem with Biden’s statement isn’t the he’s necessarily wrong, that Hunter’s prosecution wasn’t a proxy for his father and that the prosecution of Bunter Hiden would likely never have happened. The problem is that there is nothing in the White House statement that’s any different today than a month ago. What has changed are circumstances.
Donald Trump has been elected president, and appears likely to exact the retribution he promised in his campaign. Hunter Biden may not have been an elected official. He may not have held any office, elected or appointed. He is a private citizen by any definition. But he is the son of Joe and he is in the direct line of fire. There are few ways to hurt a father more than to punish his child.
[Biden] added: “There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”
If this claim of selective prosecution to do damage sounds familiar, it is. This is the same claim made by Trump and his sycophants, that no one but Trump would have been prosecuted for claiming his pay off to a porn star would have been hidden behind a bill for legal services, and worse still, no one but Trump would have had such a minor offense bootstrapped into a felony by a novel legal theory of dubious merit.
While not quite the same, the Florida prosecution for retaining top secret documents, not to mention lying about having returned everything and concealing the retention, bore a slight resemblance to Biden’s keeping possession of confidential docs, even though Biden cooperated in their return. The same cannot be said for the Washington prosecution for January 6th, but the others were enough to make the point that Trump and his sycophants believed he was targeted not for his crimes, but to prevent his re-election. That, of course, didn’t go well.
To no one’s surprise, Trump had something to say about the pardon.
In a post on social media, Mr. Trump called the pardon “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” He brought up the rioters from Jan. 6, 2021, some of whom he has suggested could be pardoned when he takes office.
The guy who pardoned Crazy Joe is in no position to cry “miscarriage of justice.” Even worse, after pardoning his son-in-law’s father, Charles Kushner, he’s now appointed him ambassador to France. Trump is in no position to feign outrage at an act of nepotism.
But to the extent Biden sought to maintain his dignity and integrity as he was on his way out, the taint of this pardon cannot be ignored.
Mr. Biden’s decision to use the extraordinary power of executive clemency to wipe out his son’s convictions on gun and tax charges came despite repeated statements by him and his aides that he would not do so. Just this past summer, after his son was convicted at trial, the president rejected the idea of a pardon and said that “I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process.” The statement he issued on Sunday night made clear he did not accept the outcome or respect the process.
The New York Times characterization of the pardon is a bit underwhelming. This wasn’t merely a pardon for the gun and tax charges, but a full and unconditional pardon for anything and everything Hunter may have done from 2014 to December 1, 2024.
Experts on pardons said they could think of only one other person who has received a presidential pardon so sweeping in generations: Nixon, who was given a blanket pardon by Gerald Ford in 1974.
“I have never seen language like this in a pardon document that purports to pardon offenses that have not apparently even been charged, with the exception of the Nixon pardon,” said Margaret Love, who served from 1990 to 1997 as the U.S. pardon attorney, a Justice Department position devoted to assisting the president on clemency issues.
“Even the broadest Trump pardons were specific as to what was being pardoned,” Love added.
Given that Biden said, repeatedly, that he respected the legal system and would not pardon his son, there is little doubt that he has put any hope of a legacy of integrity to bed. Sure, in the scheme of Trump lies, this might seem petty, but lying is Trump’s brand and doesn’t offset Biden’s reversal. Then again, Hunter Biden is his son and, with as much certainty as one can muster, will be held to pay for Trump’s petty retribution against Biden. If it were my son, I would pardon him in a second. There are few things more important than integrity, and the protection of my children is one of them. I would take a bullet for my kids, and can’t blame Biden for taking one for his.
This pardon was predicted in writing by somebody, that would be me, in a comment here not long ago–a comment that was trashed, for reasons I don’t recall. Of course Joe Biden would pardon Hunter! The only question is why he dug such a deep rhetorical hole promising that he would not.
[Ed. Note: The reason your comments occasionally get trashed is that they tend to either go off topic or ask a really silly question. Your second paragraph here, which I’ve deleted, was an example of both. Hope that helps.]
well done! (“LOL” gets overused, but your reply literally got a chuckle out loud. When I get to cite the prescience of that deleted paragraph in a few months–the blind squirrel finding an acorn, perhaps– maybe the last chuckle will be mine)
There may come a time when the issue arises, and I may write about it, at which point it will be on topic and you can remind me of your prescience. But today is not that day.
That was definitely on the short list.
From the authors of the Oscar winning hits such as “Nobody is above the law!” and “principles first!”, watch the upcoming heartbreaking masterpiece “Joe loves his son”
In all probability this was agreed to at the time Hunter Biden entered his plea to prevent his trial being an embarrassment to Democrats during the campaign. It was likely also part of the understanding that the dotard would lie about it, so long as the pardon might affect he outcome of the election.
Now that the Democrats have taken a monumental ass-stomping anyway, there is no remaining political downside for the dotard in pissing backward on his word and granting the pardon. Chances are, by 2028 it will be forgotten.
Shamelessly stolen from twitter:
Joe: “I think I’m going to drop out of the race.”
Hunter: “Pardon me?”
Joe: “I said I think I’m going to drop out of the race”
Hunter: “That’s not what I meant.”
It’s easy to put your children ahead of your integrity when you have children but no integrity.
It’s easy to put your children ahead of anything when you have children.
This is the same claim made by Trump and his sycophants…
You once asked your readers if it were time to close the blog and cease your sycophantic posts of Democrats.
While I don’t quite recall my asking any such question, there is a difference between a political philosophy and adherents to the cult of one individual, putting aside that he’s a vulgar, lying, narcissistic ignoramus. It would behoove you to consider that monumental distinction.
Unless my memory is failing me, I seem to recall being advised four years ago–by a Harvard law professor, no less–that pardoning close family members and relatives constituted obstruction of justice under federal law when done for a corrupt purpose.
It grieves me to see President Biden commit new crimes on his way out the door, according to Professor Tribe. I would also note that the plea agreement into which Hunter Biden had entered also contained a substantively similar blanket immunity provision, which caused the judge presiding over Hunter Biden’s case to question it.
I can understand someone sacrificing his integrity to save his child. Would we say the same for siblings? President Biden has until January 20, 2025 to pardon his brother as well.
Thanksgiving is the time the President usually pardons two turkeys. This year it was three.
This might not make the cut but regarding tax evasion does this wipe out any/ all outstanding unpaid taxes and penalties?
To the point, I challenge anyone to claim they wouldn’t do the same for their child.
The pardon is unseemly, to be sure. So was the original prosecution. But I think it says more about Trump and the GOP than it does Biden. They aren’t going to let off their Hunter Derangement Syndrome any time soon, and the announcements of Kash Patel and Matt Gaetz (followed by his equally mendacious replacement) make it clear that Trump will pursue retribution against all perceived enemies. I can understand why a father would want to spare his child the possibility of endless government-sponsored proctology exams. I don’t like it, but i understand it.
I’m not a fan of Geraldo Rivera, but this comment struck me as both apt and amusing;
“Most dads including this one would do what Joe Biden did. Blood is thicker than water. He was willing to tarnish his honor and reputation to save his child (who he believed was being shafted).”
Too bad, but it’s not like he appointed him Ambassador to France.”
Yeah. I’d pardon my son. If I had one as feckless as Hunter. Or if I had one at all. Alas, I am childless.
I did not realize that this was a blanket pardon. But given the types of stuff that Hunter was into, I guess it needed to be. And I’m not surprised at this.
We gotta face the fact that politics IS a very corrupt field of endeavor. No one is gonna serve out 50 years in politics without being whatever it is that Joe Biden is. It’s not like we need to be aghast or anything. He’s run his race now. The new and coming generation will make this event look like amateur hour.
isn’t there a parable that relevant – if you can find charity in the lost son being welcome home, be silent. If Christ would, why can’t you.