Pardons

Robby Soave | 12.2.2024 9:30 AM

Pardon me boy: President Joe Biden has issued a blanket pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, for all offenses Hunter has committed or may have committed from January 1, 2014, through yesterday. Said pardon is "full and unconditional," and pertains to any alleged criminal wrongdoing. Hunter Biden is off the hook for tax fraud and for improperly procuring a firearm while addicted to drugs; he is also protected from any future inquiry into alleged influence peddling.

This total immunity represents a complete and utter betrayal of a campaign promise. When he ran for reelection, Biden told the public in no uncertain terms that a presidential pardon was off the table. He also said, unambiguously, that he "will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process."

Reporters frequently asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about this possibility, and she always affirmed Biden's position that no pardon would be offered.

A compilation of every time KJP was asked if Biden is going to pardon Hunter and every time she said no.pic.twitter.com/i4hEeVEpjN

— Defiant L's (@DefiantLs) December 2, 2024

In his statement, Biden attempted to justify the pardon on the grounds that "no reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son." In terms of the gun conviction, there's some truth to that. As Reason's Jacob Sullum has argued, the statute that Hunter violated is "widely flouted, haphazardly enforced, and constitutionally dubious." The tax fraud issue is another matter; such charges are "routinely brought against people who are not political targets," argues The Atlantic's Jonathan Chait.

More seriously, the presidential pardon is........

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