Joe Biden had repeatedly denied that he would commute what was likely to be a substantial prison sentence or pardon his son Hunter for his convictions related to gun ownership and tax evasion.
He declared he had changed his mind on the Sunday night following Thanksgiving, when the American public’s focus was firmly elsewhere.
In a press release announcing his decision, he wrote, “There has been an attempt to break Hunter – who has been sober for five and a half years, despite relentless attacks and selective prosecution.” They have attempted to break me in an attempt to break Hunter, and there is no reason to think that this will end. Enough is enough.
Republicans have already blasted Biden’s action, accusing him of hypocrisy for both breaching his pledge and abusing his position as president to shield his son. Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis swiftly issued a statement expressing his disappointment and claiming that the action would “tarnish” the reputation of the departing president.
Family members have previously been pardoned by presidents. Bill Clinton granted clemency in 2001 for his brother Roger’s drug conviction from 1985. However, Hunter Biden’s “full and unconditional” pardon was especially expansive. From the beginning of 2014 until this Sunday, it covers his criminal convictions as well as any upcoming charges for “offenses against the United States.”
During that time, Hunter Biden participated in various international transactions and served on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma for two years, during which his father held the position of vice president. Republicans have accused Hunter Biden of improperly taking advantage of his father’s position of authority and of having ties to his son’s business activities.
Anyone who has heard Donald Trump rant about the American legal system in recent years may recognize the president’s justification for the pardon.
Trump pardoned a number of his close associates and allies who had been involved in the numerous criminal investigations that surrounded him during his presidency as he left office in 2021. He did this by eschewing the White House’s established protocols for using the extensive presidential pardon authority. Furthermore, there were minimal to no political repercussions for his action, despite the fact that he was criticized for it at the time.
In fact, Trump declared last week that he was proposing Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was granted a pardon in 2021, to serve as the United States ambassador to France. Kushner spent two years in prison after being found guilty in 2005 of campaign finance violations, tax evasion, and witness tampering.
But since Biden’s political career is coming to an end, the cost of his action is minimal. Additionally, there aren’t many Democrats in positions of authority to deal with the fallout, as the party lost both the White House and Congress last month.
Vice-President Kamala Harris would have been pressured to denounce Biden’s action, which would have at least temporarily halted her presidential transition. It might have reduced the likelihood of Biden taking such a broad action. Rather, the focus will soon return to the incoming Trump administration.
It seems that the procedures and established boundaries that had governed the use of presidential pardoning, or at the very least the rules governing it, have been drastically and irrevocably changed. Regardless of political affiliation, there may not be many reasons for anyone to be upset at this time.
“With this decision, Biden has now made it easier for Trump to abuse the clemency power again,” American University legal expert Jeffrey Crouch told CBS, the BBC’s US partner. “If presidents from both political parties feel free to abuse clemency without consequence, the pardon power becomes less a tool of grace and more of a political instrument.”
When the Biden pardon was announced, the Trump campaign quickly responded, claiming that during his second term, the president-elect would restore due process and make corrections to the US legal system.
It’s important to remember this when Trump takes office again because he is anticipated to use his pardoning authority to help associates who were charged during the Biden administration and to release numerous supporters who were found guilty during the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
When Trump criticized the Hunter Biden pardon, he brought up the 6 January cases. He is probably going to bring up the president’s action when he pardons people next year.
Both sides are going to keep accusing each other of partisan prosecutions and acting above the law. The American public, which surveys indicate is already skeptical of government ethics, may become even more certain that both sides bear some of the blame.
