Late Sunday, December 1, President Joe Biden issued a full and sweeping pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, in a move that is sure to create cognitive dissonance among the denizens of the Fourth Estate and beyond. Citing “political pressure” to prosecute, the outgoing president used his executive powers to wipe the slate clean not only for the crimes of which Hunter has been convicted but also for any and all crimes that may have been committed in the last ten years. How does the volatile anti-Trump left square this particular circle?
C’mon, Man. It’s All Political. No Joke.
On numerous occasions during his presidency, and most notably during his campaign, the elder Biden insisted that he would not issue a pardon for his son. In fact, it was a point of pride among his supporters to demonstrate that – unlike Trump – the 46th president would not “abuse” his powers. One election day later, that promise has flown the coop. But where does that leave the oft-repeated supposition that the Department of Justice does not play politics?
In his statement, Biden wrote:
“For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further.”
Such sentiments about the politicization of the Justice Department could be read on any given day during the last two years on the social media accounts of President-elect Trump. Indeed, it is a case that the former and future president has made again and again to angst-ridden cries from the media that such talk “endangers democracy.”
If one were to take the current president at his word, the Biden-friendly Fourth Estate must now adjust messaging to the convoluted position that the DOJ succumbs to political pressure, but only from one side of the aisle. It’s a cognitive dissonance bomb waiting to explode. And yet, digging just below the surface exposes both a flaw in Biden’s logic and a handy riposte for the incoming president.
Special Counsel Says What?
In the pardon, Biden writes that “a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.”
Why did the plea unravel? It was not the DOJ that scuppered the arrangement, but rather the defense and prosecution both being unable to explain why the “sweetheart deal” covered “all” crimes and not just those for which Hunter Biden was presently being charged. When the judge asked the prosecutor whether he had ever seen its like before, he answered that he had not. It was an overreach that set tongues wagging, and yet, President Biden has offered just such immunity in his sweeping pardon. Hunter receives a “full and unconditional pardon” for:
“[T]hose offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss…”
So, it is not just the gun and tax charges but rather any wrongdoing committed from 2014 to the present day. In effect, Hunter Biden has a legal bulletproof vest for any crime he may have engaged in, including those speculated by the recent congressional investigations into his business dealings and pay-for-play schemes involving access to his father.
As John Solomon of Just the News pointed out:
“Most Americans are finishing the Biden presidency with a low regard for the president: his approval rating sunk to 37% last month. And voters who took Joe Biden at his word that there were no shenanigans or wrongdoing with his son’s business dealings now believe they were misled and that the president engaged in illegal or unethical conduct.”
Trump, the Media, and Hunter
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” Trump wrote. “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
Trump’s incoming comms director, Steven Cheung, expanded the message, saying:
“The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system…
“That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people.”
It’s clear that Team Trump sees this as a vindication of the last two years of accusations against what they claim is a politicized legal system. But where do the anti-Trump zealots and media cohorts turn now?
A Political Pickle
Either the US system of justice is susceptible to political pressure, or it isn’t. If it isn’t, then Hunter’s broad pardon is a mockery of the idea that “no one is above the law,” and all those who support Biden’s 11th-hour reversal are willing to trample “justice.” Or it is a system that can be manipulated, and Donald Trump’s insistence that he has been a target now takes on new weight.
The multitude of news stories that have categorically stated Trump’s claims of politicization “without evidence” must now come with a caveat. Either that or the once-vaunted Fourth Estate must beclown itself further in linguistic contortions.
Trump’s contentious picks to head the Justice Department and the myriad agencies that deal with law and order have been accused of preparing to clean house with a flamethrower. Such accusations relied upon the idea that the system was not broken and not politicized. Whether he is right or wrong, President Biden has derailed that narrative and provided a unique opening for the nominees to press their case.
It may not be only Hunter Biden who benefits from this pardon.
