‘These Cases Are Over’: Reaction Often Positive -- But Also Mixed -- to Biden Pardon
President reverses, and helps his only remaining son ahead of sentencing
Reaction to President Biden’s surprising pardon of his son, Hunter, was decidedly mixed but members of the media and political analysts saw why the president would reverse course on this decision.
Despite repeatedly promising not to pardon his son related to a variety of federal criminal convictions, that’s just what President Biden did Sunday.
Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 12 for his conviction on federal gun charges. He also was set to be sentenced on Dec. 16 in a separate criminal case in which he pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges in September.
The president issued a "full and unconditional pardon" for any offenses Hunter Biden has “committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024," according to a White House statement.
“Let’s not pretend we are living in the pre-Trump political world. I mean, I know that Joe Biden is an institutionalist, but you are dealing with the current president-elect being someone who continues to lie about the 2020 election and still thinks he won California,” said Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach County, Fla, and a frequent legal analyst. “So, I get it why people are going to be upset with Joe Biden, but on the other hand, when he was saying that he would not pardon his son, I think he meant it because he thought that either he or then Kamala Harris would be president, didn’t expect Trump to return to the White House, didn’t expect Kash Patel to be the next FBI director, so he is protecting his son from the wolves on the other side.
“I mean, you want to leave your son in the care of the Donald Trump Justice Department and his Bureau of Prisons?” Aronberg asked, rhetorically. “No, he’s a loving father and he said, ‘You know, the other guy pardon his daughter’s father-in-law, and then not only pardoned him, but made him ambassador. The other guy pardoned Steve Bannon, his political guy, even after he stole money from his own supporters. So, yes, if you want to call me out for pardoning my own son, who’s a victim of selective prosecution, do so.’ He’s just about out of caring right now.”
The prosecution of Hunter Biden for these crimes had been unusual, according to Elie Honig, a former state and federal prosecutor and now a prominent legal analyst.
“But the way that Hunter Biden was charged in that Delaware case is extremely unusual. Separately, Hunter Biden pled guilty to tax offenses, to tax felonies in California. Those can be handled sometimes through civil process. Sometimes they are charged as felonies, as Hunter Biden was, but both of those cases are now over,” he said.
CNN’s Jessica Dean also noted President Biden’s love for his last-surviving son after his other son, Beau Biden, died from cancer nearly a decade ago.
“And Jeff, of course, we don’t have to remind people how close-knit this family is and that Hunter is his only surviving son, that they are, of course, very, very close and we’ve heard many stories about, the last several years, how they talk daily and many times a day,” she said, on-camera.
But Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman who opposes Trump and supported the candidacies of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris this year, expressed disappointment.
‘See? I told you so. They’re all like that.’ So the next time any of us complain about anything Trump does, this — this pardon is just deflating,” he said. “For those of us who have been out there for a few years now yelling about what a unique threat Donald Trump is, for Joe Biden to do something like this, Trump — ‘Nobody’s above the law,’ we’ve been screaming. Well, Joe Biden just made clear his son Hunter is above the law.
“Donald Trump lies every time he opens his mouth, we’ve been screaming. Joe Biden repeatedly lied about this. ‘The politicization of the justice system,’ Donald Trump and his people have been screaming. That’s exactly what Biden said here.”
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