By The Associated Press’s Bill Barrow
Atlanta After years of denouncing Donald Trump as a menace to democracy who disregarded the law, Democrats are now struggling with President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son for criminal crimes. The party is already grieving from their November defeats.
Late on Sunday night, the president reversed his earlier promises and granted Hunter Biden clemency for more than ten years of any federal offenses his son may have committed. According to a statement from the 82-year-old president, his son’s indictment on allegations of tax fraud and falsifying a federal weapons purchase form was driven by politics.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who for months argued that Hunter Biden would not receive a pardon alongside Biden and other White House officials, stated that while he believes in the judicial system, he also feels that politics corrupted the process and resulted in a miscarriage of justice.
Some Democrats were not satisfied with that explanation because they were upset that Biden’s reversal may make it more difficult to challenge Trump, who has maintained that Biden and Democrats turned the legal system against him by bringing many indictments and one conviction against him.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis posted about Biden on the social media site X, saying, “This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation.”
The governor went on to say, “When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation,” alluding to the president’s use of parenthood to justify his choice. Hunter brought his own legal troubles upon himself, and while one can understand his hardships, one must also recognize that no one is above the law—not even a president or a president’s son.
On Monday, December 2, 2024, President Joe Biden begins his long-awaited trip to Africa by landing at Amilcar Cabral International Airport on Sal Island, Cape Verde, on his way to Angola. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP)
On X, Rep. Greg Stanton, a Democrat from Arizona, stated: This prosecution was not driven by politics. Hunter was found guilty by a jury of his peers of felony.
Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado claimed that Biden’s choice further undermines Americans’ trust that the legal system is impartial and equal for all, putting his own interests ahead of his obligations. Senator Gary Peterssaid of MichiganThe pardon was a misuse of authority that undermines public trust in the government and gives others the confidence to manipulate the law to their advantage.
Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, described the pardon as reasonable if it were merely seen as a loving father’s gesture. However, the senator claimed that Biden’s position as our country’s chief executive made the action foolish.
The president’s Democratic supporters undoubtedly point out that Trump has used his presidential authority to pardon a number of his guilty friends, allies, and advisers, many of whom had involvement in Trump’s campaign and first government.
In addition to pardoning Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort, Trump also wrote major Democratic donor Jon Cooper on X about his son-in-law’s father, Charles Kushner, who he recently named as the US ambassador to France.
Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, stated that Democrats and Joe Biden have the greatest standards, whereas Donald Trump has none. Harrison suggested that the GOP’s pursuit of Hunter Biden would not have ended without mercy, citing Trump’s apparent plans to fire FBI Director Christopher Wray and replace him with loyalist Kash Patel.
According to Harrison, the majority of people will see that Joe Biden made the right decision.
From the White House on Monday, First Lady Jill Biden stated, “Of course I support the pardon of my son.”
With voters putting Trump back in the White House and handing the GOP control of the House and Senate, Democrats immediately face the possibility of a Republican trifecta in Washington. It is anticipated that they would use the president-elect’s remarks about exacting revenge on his adversaries as part of their criticism of Trump and Republican leaders.
Trump had his own legal issues prior to defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, including two cases involving his attempts to reverse his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Since Trump’s victory on November 5, those cases—such as Trump’s sentencing following his conviction on business fraud charges in New York State—have either been dropped or indefinitely postponed, forcing Democrats to rethink how they approach the president-elect.
As his son was put on trial in the Delaware gun case in June, President Biden told reporters, “I abide by the jury decision,” emphatically ruling out a pardon or commutation for his son. I won’t forgive him, but I will do that.
Jean-Pierre denied a pardon or mercy for the younger Biden as recently as November 8, only days after Trump’s election, stating: We’ve been asked that subject several times. Our response remains unchanged: no.
The president’s reversal occurred just weeks before Hunter Biden was scheduled to be punished for his guilty plea to tax charges and trial conviction in the gun case. In December 2020, a month after his father’s 2020 triumph, the younger Biden revealed he was the subject of a federal investigation, capping a protracted legal battle.
In addition to the gun and tax charges committed by the younger Biden, the broad pardon also includes any other acts against the United States that he may have done or participated in between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024.
In June, Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felonies in a federal court in Delaware for buying a pistol in 2018 after lying on a federal form, according to the prosecution, that he was not addicted to or using narcotics unlawfully. In a California case, he was accused of not paying at least $1.4 million in taxes, and he was scheduled to go on trial in September. However, hours after jury selection was about to start, he made a surprise plea of guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges.
The president claimed in his statement on Sunday that these kinds of crimes are usually not punished with the same zeal as Hunter Biden.
According to Biden’s statement, the claims in his cases only arose after a number of his congressional rivals encouraged them to disparage me and prevent my victory. Given the facts of Hunter’s situation, no sane person could conclude that Hunter was singled out merely because he is my son. I’m hoping that Americans will get the reasoning behind a father and a president’s decision.
This article was written by Associated Press journalists Michael Tackett, Mary Claire Jalonick, and Darlene Superville in Washington, and Will Weissert aboard Air Force One.
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