Tuesday, December 03, 2024

Biden was right to pardon his son and he should do a lot more before it’s too late.

 That's the title of my latest piece in The Hill.  I put together some of my prior thoughts from blog posts and tweets into a short opinion piece.  Let me know your thoughts. Here how it starts off:

A member of the President’s family was convicted of tax crimes and making false statements.  Many believe the prosecution was unjust.  And then came the pardon.  And the criticism.

No, not Hunter Biden.  In 2020, President Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, Jared Kushner’s father (Jared is married to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka).  It was not just Kushner.  Trump pardoned Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and other allies.   Before that, Jimmy Carter pardoned his brother Billy.  George H.W. Bush pardoned his son Neil. Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother Roger.  Even Abraham Lincoln pardoned a family member.

Now enter President Biden.  He pardoned his son Hunter yesterday for tax crimes and making false statements.  The criticism from both sides of the aisle was fast and furious.  

But Biden was right to pardon his son.  For starters, any parent would do the same thing.  There can be lots of debate about whether Biden should have made promises about pardons (he should not have) or whether Hunter would have been prosecuted if his last name was not Biden (he would not have).  And so on. But there should be no debate that a father should forgive his kid, whether he’s President or not. 

Sunday, December 01, 2024

Kash Patel to head the FBI

 Kash Patel, the former Miami AFPD, will be nominated to lead the FBI under President Trump.  Here's the CNN article:

President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate firebrand loyalist Kash Patel to serve as FBI director, an extraordinary move that would put a self-described enemy of the so-called “deep state” as the head of the nation’s top law enforcement agency — a role that would give Patel power to carry out Trump’s threats to go after his political opponents.

Trump’s interest in Patel speaks to his urge to fill top law enforcement and intelligence positions with supporters who may be open to carrying out his demands for specific investigations as well as inoculating the president against possible future probes.

“I am proud to announce that Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday evening.

Even among Trump loyalists, Patel is widely viewed as a controversial figure and relentless self-promoter whose value to the president-elect largely derives from a shared disdain for established power in Washington. Putting him in charge of the FBI would require forcing out current director Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump, before his term expires – prompting bipartisan criticism.

Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton compared Patel to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s leader of secret police, the NKVD, telling CNN: “The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0.”

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan cautioned Sunday that the FBI director should not be subject to the “whims” of politics, but declined to weigh in directly on Patel.

“What makes the FBI director different from most other nominees is they’re not just appointed for one term of a president, they’re appointed for enough time to last past two terms of a president, because they’re supposed to be insulated from politics,” Sullivan told CNN’s Kasie Hunt on “State of the Union.”

Incoming Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley heavily criticized Wray, the current FBI director, saying in a social media post that he “failed” during his tenure. But Grassley added that Kash Patel “must prove to Congress” that he will do better than Wray.The Patel pick almost certainly sets up another potentially explosive confirmation battle in the Senate, where members are already bracing for how they’ll navigate a slew of unorthodox Trump picks. One of those picks, fellow Trump loyalist and Justice Department critic Matt Gaetz, dropped out of the fight to become attorney general as it became clear the former Florida congressman would not have the GOP support necessary for confirmation.

It’s unclear whether Patel could face a similar uphill battle through the confirmation process.