On Sunday, President Joe Biden released a statement detailing his decision to pardon his son, Robert Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to all nine counts of tax offenses, including three felonies and six misdemeanors. Sentencing for Hunter Biden’s guilty plea was scheduled to take place on December 16th. The sentence would have included up to 17 years of jail time. Additionally, President Biden’s pardon for his son also extends to his prior federal gun charges related to his serious struggles with addiction. President Biden had previously maintained for several months that he would allow the justice system to run its course without interfering in his son’s case.
In his statement, President Biden stated that the trial process for his son had been corrupted by political motives. The president believes that the fact that Hunter was brought to trial at all for his federal gun charges is an indication that he was being singled out due to his status as a Biden, as this is an uncommon proceeding for this type of crime. Moreover, President Biden has assessed his son’s conviction as a means to the end of harming his own political reputation as the sitting president. President Biden concluded his statement on that matter by saying, “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.” In pardoning his son, President Biden has acknowledged that the Department of Justice has become politicized to the point of targeting specific individuals to gain political favor or to do political harm.
President-elect Donald Trump responded to President Biden’s pardon for his son on social media by writing that the act by Biden was “such an abuse and miscarriage of justice!” Trump himself pardoned his son-in-law’s father, Charles Kushner, in December 2020. Earlier that year, Kushner pled guilty to evading taxes and making illegal campaign donations. Trump recently stated on social media his intent to nominate Kushner as the ambassador to France during his upcoming second term in the White House. Furthermore, in the past, Trump has also stated his intention to pardon the perpetrators of the insurrection on January 6th, 2021, during his second term.
In light of President Biden’s decision to pardon Hunter Biden within the last 50 days of his presidency, a lingering question remains of how politicized the Department of Justice truly has become, and the lengths to which future presidents will go to protect themselves and those close to them from the current system of justice in the United States.
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