This past Sunday, current president Joe Biden announced that, despite the promise he made back in June, he would be pardoning his son from the convictions he was facing. Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in two separate trials over the summer - one on federal tax charges and one of lying about his drug use on a form when buying a handgun. After Hunter's June conviction, Joe Biden spoke on ABC; And when asked on whether he “ruled out a pardon” for his son, Biden replied; “yes”; assuring Americans that the justice system does not unfairly protect political elites (Geraghty).
According to the indictment, “he not only refused to return the documents for many months, but he also obstructed justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then to lie about it”(Hur). On the other hand, “Mr. Biden turned in classified documents to the National Archives and the Department of Justice, consented to the search of multiple locations including his homes, sat for a voluntary interview, and in other ways cooperated with the investigation”(Hur). Trump was not unfairly selected because of his status but more so because of his actions.
Hunter Biden on the other hand, paid back his 1.2 million of tax owed aswell as had been sober for 5 years; Surely enough to grant Clemency. But because Biden, in a 2021 memoir, wrote at length about his addiction to crack cocaineuu and alcohol”, he outed himself for potentially lying on the federal form he filled out in 2018 to obtain a handgun. Such information is rarely used to prosecute gun buyers, as it is hard to differentiate addiction and moderate consumption (The Trace).
Another point to note is that part of the public outcry is due to Biden granting a “full and unconditionaly” pardon for any crimes Hunter may have committed from December 2014 till this past sunday. A particularly broad pardon compared to other presidential pardons. For example Bill Clinton's pardon of his brother Roger was only for a singular drug trafficking charge-not a decade long of drug addicted actions.
Trump, planning to take office in January, was predicted to issue many pardons, especially for those involved in the January 6th capital raid; And now this move by Biden may have fueled the fire for Trump to pardon much more excessively and broadly; therefore setting a precedent of abuse of clemency power. Jeffrey Crouch, a legal expert from American University, told CBS his predictions after Biden's pardon; "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" (Zurcher).
Not all Democrats were even willing to support the president’s Sunday action. Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) spoke out against the pardon, saying, “I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong.” The former Phoenix mayor continued, “This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers”(Shia Kapos). If these precedents continue we may see an exponential decrease in trust of government and a break from the 2 party system as both parties seem to be at blame this time.
, Biden's pardon is justified in the sense that he worked to receive clemency but on the other hand a pardon of a decade long seems a bit out of hand and an abuse of presidency.
- Geraghty, Jim. “The Biden Crime Family Gets Away with It.” National Review, 2 Dec. 2024, www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/the-biden-crime-family-gets-away-with-it/ . Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
- House, The White. “Statement from President Joe Biden | the White House.” The White House, 2 Dec. 2024, www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/12/01/statement-from-president-joe-biden-11/.
- Hur, Robert K. “Report on the Investigation Into Unauthorized Removal, Retention, and Disclosure of Classified Documents Discovered at Locatinos Including the Penn Biden Center and the Delaware Private Residence of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.” U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsils Office, 5 February, 2024, https://www.justice.gov/storage/report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024.pdf
- Barton, Champe. “What to Know about the Gun Charges against Hunter Biden.” The Trace, 5 June 2024, www.thetrace.org/2024/06/hunter-biden-gun-case-background-check/. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
- Zurcher, Anthony. Analysis: Biden’s Pardon for Son Shows Presidents Now Act Differently. 2 Dec. 2024, www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gplr65prno .
- “What’s the Difference between the Trump and Biden Classified Documents Investigations?” NBC News, 8 Feb. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/difference-bidens-trumps-classified-documents-investigations-rcna138010.
- Shia Kapos. “Republicans Say Biden Is a “Liar” after He Pardons Hunter, His Son - POLITICO.” POLITICO, Politico, Dec. 2024, www.politico.com/news/2024/12/01/republicans-pounce-on-biden-pardoning-his-son-hunter-00192091.
16 comments:
It always looks suspicious when a president gives a presidential pardon to a family member. Not because they can’t but because no one truly knows if the concept of family influenced the action. Just knowing that someone is family already creates a strong bias. Other members of the Democratic Party already expressed that they are uncomfortable with Biden’s move. I mean when Trump takes office, he could similarly use his pardon power. He may even use this power more extreme or abuse it as he could try to pardon himself. I would not be surprised if that happens. It is respectable that Hunter Bide has paid back his 1.2 million in taxes as well as being sober for 5 years. At this point, presidential pardons seem more like a political tool which means it may weaken public trust in the government. I truly look forward to seeing how Trump may use this power, especially with the background that he has.
Talking about Clinton’s pardon, according to the BBC, Biden pardoned fewer people than most US Presidents in history. For example, Trump pardoned a series of people allied with the January 6th attack. This may create a degree of mercy especially with the pardon being his son, and the fact that Hunter Biden paid his 1.2 million back and has been 5 years sober. However, the timing of the pardon disappoints me. The fact that he pardoned his son less than a month after the election result. How would’ve this changed if Biden had ran for the next term, or even if Harris had won the election. Would he have still pardoned his own son as a president of the United States? Regardless of whether his action was ethical or not, it is frightening to see presidents excercise their power in a dictatorial way.
There are several comments on Adam's Trump pardon post saying Trump will be a hypocrite if he pardons January 6th "hostages" after criticizing Biden's pardon of Hunter, however, it's important not to forget the glaring hypocrisy of Biden in this situation. His previous statements that the justice system doesn't unfairly protect political elites is voided by his actions here, no matter his intentions. Additionally, Sora brings up an interesting point, where Biden is abusing his waning of the spotlight, where he will soon be out of office for good, and Trump will see the full spotlight. This action says that if a political figure is going out they should act controversially, as it soon won't matter - a worrying idea.
As mentioned the real issue with this isn’t the son but the implications of presidential power to pardon. The severity of it being over 11 years of pardon means that Trump will be even more comfortable and even more justified in pardoning those who stormed the capital on January 6th, something he had already mentioned doing in his campaign. It’s clear that even those not like Trump in power, will still try to take power for themselves, this just makes Trump look even better and enable him to do even worse. I’m interested if Trump will try to pardon himself, or drop certain federal charges held against him with this power.
I think it’s really interesting how Biden decided to pardon his son as he prepares to leave office. Since this is a very controversial move on Biden’s part, as seen by the criticism that has since followed, I feel like him doing this knowing it’s the last couple months of his presidency was purposeful to avoid any repercussions that could affect his trust amongst the public. Since there’s not much in it for him (no need to gain and keep public support for reelection, no need to be someone for Congress members to support, etc.), Biden didn't really need to worry about what this would do to his reputation. I really wonder if he would’ve ever made this decision if he were set to continue into a second term of presidency, or if he simply decided to take advantage of the presidential power to grant pardons of any federal criminal offense before he loses that.
I feel that the power of the pardon shouldn't exist but it does. Biden's decision to pardon his son as he is leaving the office makes sense politically as he doesn't want to affect Kamala Harris's campaign. What bothers me the most though about this is that Biden said he wouldn't pardon his son, though it was pretty obvious he was saying that for a political move. This also makes me wonder if Trump will use it as justification to pardon the January 6th rioters or even himself.
I completely agree with the concern raised by Jeffrey Crouch that overly broad pardons risk transforming lenience from a tool of grace into a political instrument, however, i think it is also worth considering how the situation highlights a deeper systemic issue. Since pardons are mostly based on individual discretion, they often lead to perceptions of abuse no matter what the true intention is. This could be an opportunity to push for reforms that establish clearer limits or oversight on the scope of pardons to prevent future problems and keep the intended purpose of offering peace. Without any changes made, trust in the government will probably continue to diminish.
Pardon's are not uncommon at all for a president during the leaving term of their presidency with many happening in the hundreds the days before departure; I think the one uncommon thing is the exact duration for it being 11 years, as there are few, if any comparisons. Yes, Hunter Biden did commit a felony charge- however, his charge on a form makes sense in the context that he is a recovering drug addict. The Biden family has sustained a lot of tragedy in their lives, and there is a strong correlation between trauma and drug abuse. I think this pardon was less of a political instrument, and more of a personal thing for his only living child in order to ensure he keeps his life of recovery the he has proved himself too. Moreover, it is not uncommon for presidents to pardon individuals with felonies. It is kinda funny that everyone is going crazy over the fact that a 'felon' was pardoned, when we have a 34 count felon likely being dismissed for 'immunity reasons' for far worse crimes entering the office in about two months. This media attention is just kinda misdirected at the larger systemic issues going on. If you want to talk about presidents pardoning individuals that shouldn't be pardoned, Trump pardoned Lil Wayne, and Kodak Black- for this 'same' crime, however, their's were comparatively far more intense as all the charges were layered on each other; and he only pardoned them due to their support of his campaign. That is much more of a political instrument than this personal, family case, involving Hunter Biden, who he and his father have dedicated their lives to public service. Sure it can be argued that this was not 'politically' wise for Biden; but I actually think the opposite. If you look at how he treats his family; Even being sworn into congress at Hunter Biden's hospital bed after his wife and daughter died in a car crash; family and service are on the same plane for him, this move makes sense. He felt responsible for the disproportionately long sentence given to his son, and the inflated lenses on their personal lives. I think if the sentence was on par with the scope of the act, then perhaps Joe Biden wouldn't have pardoned him at all; but I think he viewed the reality of his son being imprisoned for years for lying on a form which is done commonly, as a worse reality than acting out the power of a pardon. (Note that this felony is almost always only charged after an AGGRIVATED crime, in his letter announcing the pardon, he made that a key point).
I think that this is falsely equating a pardon made by Biden to the elephant in the room that Trump is going to do whatever he wants when elected. He lied about not knowing about project 2025 then appointed leads of this project to his inner-circle/planned government positions. Biden's choice will not aggravate him to do worse things; he talked about pardoning his Jan 6th "heroes" at the outset; he has shown who he is. In regard to Trump "pardoning himself", the Supreme Court has already essentially allowed this through the immunity case.
I find it a little interesting how people will say that it is wrong for a president to pardon a family member because it is bias, because I think we would all do the same if it was one of our family members in the same situation as Hunter Biden. Biden and I think everyone else knows he is done. But on the other hand, Trump’s potential pardons and the bipartisan criticism of Biden’s decision highlights how such actions risk politicizing clemency and eroding public trust. If both parties misuse this power, it could deepen disillusionment with the two-party system. hand of pardons, they obviously are way too broad with the rules surrounding it can should be critiqued so that not just anyone can get pardoned by a president.
I think it is pretty hard to say whether Joe Biden did the right thing or not, though I am leaning towards him being in the wrong. The president using his power to pardon a family member who committed a crime is pretty suspicious, and maybe an abuse of his position. What makes this situation even worse is that Biden already made a statement multiple times that he would not pardon Hunter, and yet he went directly against that. This is a direct betrayal of his previous words, which will likely make people trust even less in government than they already do. One of Biden's main reasonings for this pardon is that "people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form". It is true that Hunter Biden's crimes were blown out of proportion due to his relation to the president, and the fact that it helped to create a widespread distrust of the Biden family. It is also true that many people would do the same thing for their own family members if they were in the position to help. The difference here is that Biden's decision is broadcasted to the entire country, and he has used his power to basically circumvent Hunter's punishments, and the law. While this is obviously a last-ditch effort to get his son out of trouble now that Trump has been elected, it brings in to question what the bounds of a presidential pardon should be, and if there is too much power put into the hands of the president for this.
I think this sets a dangerous precedence for the expansion presidential power. I've seen online that some Democrats are celebrating the pardon, as a way of "levelling the playing field" to fight the Republicans. However, this only further promotes and escalates presidential abuses of power, stepping further and further away from the norms of the Oval Office. Furthermore, it could normalize the act of using presidential powers as partisan fighting, which would erode trust in the government and diminish the credibility of the executive powers.
With Trump's push to dismiss his legal case, Biden's pardoning of his son's crimes, and Trump's plan to pardon June 6th capitol rioters, it seems that the presidency is devolving further into a dictator like position. After his statements that implied he would not pardon Hunter Biden's charges, and a broad pardon of every crime committed since December of 2014, its clear that even Joe Biden is hiding his own secrets. It may be cynical to say this but no politician can ever be fully trusted.
I understand the outrage from not only the American people and government officials relating to this pardoning, however I feel as though it should've been expected. As Biden decided to remove himself from the Presidential race, his actions were no longer driven by people's perception of him. It makes entire sense why he would use his clemency powers to pardon his own son. However, the prediction of Trump pardoning the capitol rioters seems like a clear abuse of this power. Yes, Hunter Biden is a convicted felon but those convictions weren't for violating and attacking government officials at The Capitol. Of course both cases are an abuse of the clemency power, but I find pardoning rioters to be more obscure than pardoning your son. If these pardons take place, Americans will lose almost all trust in the government because the judicial branches' power would be reduced significantly. Abuse of this power would be abuse of the judicial branch by the executive.
I find it interesting that Biden decided to pardon his son at the end of his term. The White House published a statement from Joe Biden in which he said that he decided to pardon his son. Still, something that caught my attention was that he said that he “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” even though President Biden said this, this is a much larger issue as a whole. It’s hard to ignore that Hunter Biden took responsibility for his actions as he’s 5 years sober and paid off all his tax debts, but Jobe Biden pardons a decade’s worth of actions and crimes that Hunter Biden did. Biden, at the beginning of his term, first refused to pardon his son, which now knowing he did pardon, shows an inconsistency and is dangerous for future presidents as they can easily do the same. This leads to Trump, as the next president can easily pardon whoever he wants. Trump has been talking about using his pardon on the people of the January 6th incident, now that Biden set this example of personal interest, Trump can do the same. Trump is always using other people to influence his decisions, and because Biden did this, Trump will have an excuse to pardon the people of January 6th. This raises lots of concerning questions like what presidents do, is it for their personal benefit, or are they doing it for the people?
At the very beginning of the post you mention Biden going back on his word which I find very interesting. Earlier in his term, Biden announced that he wouldn't pardon his son but now that he is no longer returning as POTUS, and the election has ended, he went back on this claim. Understandably this sparked a ton of controversy: Critics argue that the reversal raises questions about consistency and transparency, while supporters may view it as a family matter or a correction of perceived unfair treatment. To many it seems that Biden brought his personal life into his role as president and slightly abused his power just to help his son. This controversy even caused people to question pardons in general and I’m curious as to where that will go and if we will see more about this as Trump takes over.
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