It isn’t uncommon for presidents to issue pardons, but President Joe Biden is being criticized for his “full and unconditional pardon” of his son, Hunter Biden, over the weekend.
It’s an unfortunate full-circle moment: Biden won the White House after dismissing the existence of a laptop that contained evidence of corruption in the Biden family, claiming it was part of a “Russian plan” in 2020. Now, as one of his final acts as president, he is pardoning the son, the owner of the laptop in question.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, in a post on X, posted a “hot take,” saying he is less concerned about Hunter Biden being pardoned for crimes he has been convicted for, including tax evasion and an illegal purchase of a firearm.
He said he has a greater issue with the contents of the laptop being “concealed and wrongly dismissed as Russian disinformation at a time when they could’ve changed the outcome of the 2020 election.”
“The charges brought against Hunter, his plea agreement, and his pardon all appear to have been tailored to conceal his business dealings that may have involved his father,” Lee added.
Despite Biden’s vague, all-encompassing pardon, will Congress carry on investigating the president and his family? Whether or not that’s the case, Biden is facing criticism for giving his son special treatment.
White House defends Biden
As the Deseret News previously reported, Hunter Biden was set to be sentenced in federal court in Delaware on Dec. 12 after he was convicted of buying a gun while lying about using drugs. His sentencing before a federal court in California followed a few days later. Biden owed $1.4 million in federal taxes, which he later paid in addition to fines and interest.
The charges were brought by Department of Justice special counsel David Weiss, who earlier had struck a deal with Biden’s attorneys, but that fell apart when a federal judge noted the investigation into Biden was still open. Republicans had criticized the deal for being too lenient.
The White House came to Biden’s defense Monday. White House Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president “wrestled with it,” and that it wasn’t “an easy decision to make.” She declined to say if Biden spoke to his son about the decision during the Thanksgiving holidays.
In lockstep with the president’s statement Sunday, Jean-Pierre said that while Biden has faith in the Justice Department and the justice system, “he also believes that his son was singled out politically.”
President Biden called out for saying he wouldn’t pardon his son
Democrats and Republicans alike understand the responsibilities of a loving father but argue that Biden’s decision to pardon his son isn’t appropriate.
“President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter is, as the action of a loving father, understandable — but as the action of our nation’s Chief Executive, unwise,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., as Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio reported.
In a post on X, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., called for reforming the rules around presidential powers, a position, he argued, Democrats should have pushed for since Biden took office.
“As a father, I empathize with President Biden, but we must be the party of reform whether it’s about the archaic pardon power, opposing super PACs or broad war powers,” he added.
Biden repeatedly said he wouldn’t pardon his son, said Utah’s Rep. Burgess Owens in a statement on X. “Now, we’re watching the lies unravel,” he said. “Next, he’ll pardon his brother, James. Then, he’ll pardon himself on his way out the door. Joe Biden is corrupt to his core & a complete failure.”
Has such a pardon been issued before?
Hunter Biden is absolved from any crimes he committed from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024, including these two criminal cases.
The only other person to receive such a sweeping pardon was Richard Nixon. After Nixon resigned following the Watergate scandal, which exposed his campaign’s wiretapping of the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters, President Gerald Ford issued a full pardon for any offenses Nixon may or may not have committed — a move that also proved to be just as controversial.
“I have never seen language like this in a pardon document that purports to pardon offenses that have not apparently even been charged, except the Nixon pardon,” Margaret Love told Politico. She served as the U.S. pardon attorney for the Justice Department from 1990 to 1997. During this time, she assisted the White House on clemency cases.
What’s next for Hunter Biden?
According to Reuters, Hunter Biden can be asked to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives or the Justice Department. After receiving his pardon, he can no longer decline to testify or invoke his Fifth Amendment, which protects someone from testifying against themselves.
Lee suggested investigations into Hunter Biden and his foreign business dealings would continue in the Republican-controlled Congress.
“I look forward to Hunter Biden testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee I want to know the answer to an important question: who is ‘the big guy’?” he wrote on X, referring to reported conversations between Hunter Biden and business associates.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who led the efforts to impeach the president over alleged corruption, said, “Democrats said there was nothing to our impeachment inquiry. If that’s the case, why did Joe Biden just issue Hunter Biden a pardon for the very things we were inquiring about?”