ATLANTA app Already reeling from their November defeats, Democrats now are grappling with President Joe Biden's for federal crimes after the party spent years slamming Donald Trump as a threat to democracy who disregarded the law.
The president pardoned Hunter Biden late Sunday evening, reversing his previous pledges with a grant of clemency that covers more than a decade of any federal crimes his son might have committed. The said in a statement that his sonapps prosecution on charges of tax evasion and falsifying a federal weapons purchase form were politically motivated.
That explanation did not satisfy some Democrats, angry that Bidenapps reversal could make it harder to take on , who has argued that were a matter of Biden and Democrats turning the justice system against him.
appThis is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,app Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wrote of Biden on the social media platform X.
appWhen you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation,app the governor continued, a reference to the president invoking fatherhood in explaining his decision. appHunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a Presidentapps son.app
Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., said on X: appThis wasnappt a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies and was convicted by a jury of his peers.app
Certainly, the president has plenty of Democratic defenders who note Trumpapps use of presidential powers to pardon a slew of his convicted aides, associates and friends, several for activities tied to Trumpapps campaign and administration.
appTrump pardoned Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort, as well as his son-in-lawapps father, Charles Kushner app who he just appointed US ambassador to France,app wrote prominent Democratic fundraiser Jon Cooper on X.
appSorry, but Biden was right to pardon his son Hunter to protect him against Kash Patelapps weaponized FBI,app Cooper concluded, referring to Trumpapps apparent plan to oust FBI Director Christopher Wray in favor of a loyalist who has talked of going after political opponents and journalists.
Democrats already are facing the prospects of a Republican trifecta in Washington, with voters returning Trump to the White House and giving the GOP control of the House and Senate. Part of their argument against Trump and Republican leaders is expected to be that the president-elect is violating norms with his talk of taking retribution against his enemies.
Before beating Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump faced his own legal troubles, including two cases that stemmed from his efforts to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Those cases, including Trump's sentencing after being convicted on New York state business fraud charges, have either been dismissed or indefinitely delayed since Trump's victory on Nov. 5, forcing Democrats to to the president-elect.
President Biden firmly ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters as his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case, appI abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.app
As recently as Nov. 8, days after Trumpapps victory, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ruled out a pardon or clemency for the younger Biden, saying, appWeappve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.app
The presidentapps about-face came weeks before Hunter Biden was set to receive his punishment after his trial conviction in the gun case and guilty plea on tax charges. It capped a long-running legal saga for the younger Biden, who disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020 app a month after his fatherapps 2020 victory.
The sweeping pardon covers not just the gun and tax offenses against the younger Biden, but also any other appoffenses 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.app
Hunter Biden was convicted in June in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing , prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. He had been set to stand trial in September in a California case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. But he agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges in a surprise move hours after jury selection was set to begin.
In his statement Sunday, the president argued that such offenses typically are not prosecuted with the same vigor as was directed against Hunter Biden.
appThe charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,app Biden said in his statement. appNo reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunterapps cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son. app I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.app
