On Sunday, President Joe Biden granted his son Hunter a “full and unconditional pardon.” For someone who’s covered the Biden family corruption scandal since the censorship-industrial complex falsely portrayed Hunter’s laptop from hell as Russian disinformation, my reactions are several and sundry.
- Joe Biden Is a Lying Liar
First up was imbibing in the hilarity of Joe Biden, once again, proving he lies with as much ease as he has in insulting Republicans.
In June, the president repeatedly vowed not to pardon his son, including during a joint news conference with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. As the time, the elder Biden stated: “I’m not gonna do anything. I said I abide by the jury — decision. I will do that. And I will not pardon him.”
President Biden’s “no pardon” position remained firm as recently as last month, when the issue arose during a press conference. “We’ve been asked that question multiple times and our answer stands — which is no,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in early November.
Republicans ridiculed Biden’s claim, leading longtime legacy reporter John Harwood to denigrate the realists, writing on X, “people who insist Biden will pardon Hunter after specifically ruling it out are telling on themselves they can’t imagine someone acting on principle and keeping his word.”
No, Mr. Harwood, we just can’t imagine Joe Biden acting on principle and keeping his word.
- Did I Mention That Joe Biden Lies?
Not only did Joe Biden lie when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden, his Sunday statement justified his change of heart by peddling another pack of lies. And as is often the case with President Biden, he repeated his “here’s the truth” tell of his forthcoming fabrication:
“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.”
Joe Biden didn’t make his decision to pardon Hunter this weekend, with the president then deciding to announce it immediately since there is “no sense in delaying it further.” The only thing this past weekend represents is the best time for the president to pardon his son before Hunter’s December 12, 2024 sentencing hearing on the three felony gun charges on which a jury convicted him in June.
Had President Biden not announced the pardon on Sunday, the press would have hounded him and his press secretary all week about whether he would pardon Hunter. And continuing to lie about the intended pardon, within days of issuing one, would be just too much to expect the friendly legacy press to ignore.
- Raw Politics Infected the Hunter Biden Prosecution — But to His Advantage.
Joe Biden’s claimed justification for the pardon — that his son was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” — likewise runs up against reality. First, contrary to the president’s framing of the case against his son, Hunter wasn’t merely charged because of “how he filled out a gun form.” Rather, Hunter was charged because he knowingly lied on a federal firearm form when he claimed he wasn’t an addict or user of drugs. And the tax counts that were subject to a separate criminal indictment in California weren’t based on Hunter paying his taxes late because of his addiction but charged Hunter with knowingly filing false tax returns, including by omitting income and inventing deductions.
Further, the whistleblowers’ testimony established that Hunter Biden wasn’t unjustly targeted, but instead received unfair preferential treatment: The DOJ refused to authorize a search at his father’s house because of “appearances,” witnesses were tipped to the FBI’s impending questioning of them, federal prosecutors allowed the statute of limitations to expire on the most serious criminal charges, and the DOJ entered into a sweetheart plea agreement calling for no felony charges pursuant to a deferral agreement that was so unusual, the federal judge asked for briefing on the propriety of the deal.
After that deal crumbled, a grand jury indicted Hunter — not on some invented legal theory, but on straightforward gun and tax counts. A jury then convicted Hunter on the felony gun charges, while the president’s son pleaded guilty in September to the tax charges in a California federal court. Sentencing on the tax charges was set for December 16, 2024.
There’s no way Hunter would have pled guilty to the tax felonies if he didn’t know the Big Guy would pardon him. And nothing has changed since Hunter’s convictions to suddenly cause the president to believe his son was unfairly targeted. The pardon was always the plan.
- The Deep State Is Real.
Of course, taking President Biden at his word is equally delicious, as it represents an admission by the head of the Executive Branch that the Department of Justice and FBI are corrupted by politics.
Republicans have been saying that for years, and although the evidence showed the corruption actually flowed to Hunter’s benefit, an acknowledgement by the soon-to-be former president of the politicization of the DOJ proves particularly helpful now as Donald Trump builds his cabinet around the principle of deconstructing the Deep State.
- That’s Quite the Pardon You Got There Boy.
Also noteworthy is the breadth of the pardon President Biden issued his son: Not only did the president pardon Hunter for the gun and tax charges for which he awaits sentencing, but for every other crime he “committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024 … ”
That’s a get-out-of-jail-free card for nearly eleven years and for any and all crimes Hunter may have committed, including fraud, conspiracies, FARA violations, and sex trafficking.
It will be interesting to watch the reporting in the days that follow covering other presidential pardons and how they, in contrast, were narrow in both scope and time.
Somewhat surprisingly, however, the president didn’t pardon his brother Jim, whose own business dealings, especially with Americore, have raised calls for further investigation. The difference, of course, is that Hunter was soon to be sentenced and a pardon now is all that could save him that ordeal, followed by the more harrowing nightmare of incarceration. So, watch for Joe to issue pardons to his other family members in his final days in office — even if the president promises not to!
For all the lies Joe Biden has told — and will continue to tell in the waning days of his administration — his Sunday statement included one grain of truth: He came to his decision to pardon Hunter as a father, and not just a president. Americans would be much more understanding of the pardon had Joe just played the fatherly love card, instead of treating us as a bunch of dullards ready to accept his latest lie.
Margot Cleveland is an investigative journalist and legal analyst and serves as The Federalist’s senior legal correspondent. Margot’s work has been published at The Wall Street Journal, The American Spectator, the New Criterion, National Review Online, Townhall.com, the Daily Signal, USA Today, and the Detroit Free Press. She is also a regular guest on nationally syndicated radio programs and on Fox News, Fox Business, and Newsmax. Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize—the law school’s highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. Cleveland is also of counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland where you can read more about her greatest accomplishments—her dear husband and dear son. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.
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