Did you see the statement he issued just after the pardon? He makes it quite clear that he believes Hunter’s prosecution was irretrievably affected by the purely political desires of Trump and his enablers, and this is why he issued the pardon. If the Republicans had just let it play out in court, things might have been different, but this is where we are now. Republicans politicized it, and now it can’t be un-politized. There’s no venue in the US where Hunter could get an actual fair trial, now. No matter what happened in court, someone would think the fix is in, either from the Republicans or the Democrats.
What choice did Biden have? You have an incoming criminal, rapist president who tried to overthrow the government four short years ago. He’s stocking his administration with incompetent nutjobs, sex offenders, and assorted, other fascist zealots hellbent on settling ‘scores.’
Hell, Biden should pardon everyone…every name his advisors can come up with. From Dr. Fauci to Taylor Swift to Adam Schiff to Jack Smith and on and on.
Makes sense that democratic rhetoric about saving democracy wasn’t backed up by action reflecting the actual urgency.
Of course Biden ignored the warning signs about his reelection until a few months before november - it’s not like he’s going to be on the chopping block, he can just pardon his family or use other levers of power to protect those close to him.
I think regular people who supported biden excusing this are basically letting an elite powerful man ride into the sunset while the rest of us won’t have the ability to shield ourselves from Trump’s second term.
I cannot disagree with this. As polarized as our politics are now, Dems will vote innocent and Pubs will vote guilty just on principle.
In normal times I’d say you’re over reacting but our future AG has said he will go after enemies of the states. So yeah. No issues here with Hunter’s pardon.
Remember how Trump was going to indict Hillary during his first term? As much as despise her I’d laugh my ass off if Biden pardoned her as a FU to The Insurrectionist.
Dude, looking at the past year it doesn’t matter if he pardons Hunter or not. The right wing will simply say that he did and it will magically be true. See what happened with the economy, Haitians eating pets, schools transitioning kids, litter boxes in school bathrooms, female boxers, etc.
I think we, and probably half the country, if not half the planet, know what the response is going to be, and it will be on the 48th anniversary of when President Carter did something similar.
Well, I lose $25.
That’s what I bet with a guy back when Biden announced he was not seeking the nomination. He said Biden would pardon Hunter after the election.
I said, “I doubt it, but maybe for specific crimes like tax evasion.”
“No - it will be a broad pardon and extend far enough back to cover unnamed actions Hunter took on behalf of Burisma.”
To me, it seemed like an easy $25 - so I took the bet.
Yeah, no one really cared all that much. There werent dozens of headlines and op-ed pieces.
But look at this-
I wasnt able to read all of it, but it is an example of how the media is attacking Joe for something trump did on Tuesdays.
This is one of the reasons harris lost- the media is unfair vs the Dems. We have the solidly MAGA media, Fox, etc- sure, but then the NYT, the Atlantic, LA Times, WaPo, NBC and others trying to be “neutral” and failing.
Nope, Not sentenced yet.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-is-legal-effect-president-bidens-pardon-his-son-hunter-2024-12-02/
Both had not yet been sentenced.
Exactly. There was a fair plea deal on the table- Hunter would have pled guilty, paid a fine, and gotten a suspended sentence. Still guilty of a felony, still having to stay out of trouble, etc. Joe would not have Pardoned Hunter for the fair deal.
I’m imagining Joe Biden thinking, “Yeah, I changed my mind about not pardoning Hunter, but once you fuckers decided to elect that fascist, all bets are off.”
How much time should I spend googling this?
Here’s the first I came up with on the Kushner pardon:
The most ‘loathsome and disgusting’ of Donald Trump’s pardons
Because Trump pardoned three cronies the same day, most of the opinion articles were more like this:
‘Rotten to the core’: Anger as Trump pardons Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner’s father
IMHO opinion, it would have been better if he didn’t do it. But the hypocrisy of outraged Rs is both unbelievable and totally predictable at the same time.
He probably cares more for a persecuted family member than he does about some abstract principle that the other side is going to ignore anyway.
Trumpworld would have gotten creative and charged him with something else. Maybe a jury would then have acquitted Hunter. But the trial penalty probably would, as with most federal defendants, have been too high, and Hunter would have had to accept a plea bargain. (Hunter bargained earlier, and the judge refused to accept the bargain but that was probably a one-time event.)
Also, if the convictions had stood, and Hunter was ever charged with something else, the sentencing guideline would recommend a longer incarceration due to being a convicted felon.
I dislike the option President Biden choose, but none available were good or safe.
I don’t want to see it happen, of course, but I would agree that it was a perfectly legitimate use of his Presidential power.
I thought at the time (when it looked like American democracy would continue) that he should commute Hunter’s sentence to whatever an ordinary person would have gotten for those crimes. I’m still not precisely sure what that is, so I can’t say how improper this would be.
Of course, the parenthetical there is also important. Trump has already stated that he’ll use the Justice Department to persecute his enemies, so in the face of that, a pardon is necessary.
Agreed. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not upset in the least. I can understand protection of family from what was a clearly politically motivated prosecution. On one hand, I hate it when Trumpers have a point based on principle. On the other hand, its nice to them whine and cry about something they have no control over.
Yeah. Today I’ve taken in only CNN and MSNBC, but so far they’ve been equally Outraged about Joe’s action. He lied! And he’s emboldening Trump!
As many have noted, neither Trump nor his enablers need any emboldening. If actual Democratic actions don’t “justify” something the Trumpites want to do, they’ll just lie and say the Dems did whatever-it-is.
As for Joe lying: none of the talking heads have been able to see the reality that Trump has promised to harm the Bidens (and others). The anchors and reporters are all reacting as though it had been Mitt Romney who will be coming into power on January 20. The disconnect is appalling.
Joe might have heard through his sources that Hunter might have never left prison if he didn’t.
He didn’t need any sources, he just needed to know what Trump and company are like.
Exactly. It’s pretty clear that the Retribution World Tour will premiere on January 20th.