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.
15 comments:
Nothing is like the love of a father for his son.
Biden spent many months campaigning, and making it a distinction of the fact he had promised not to pardon Hunter. He was due to be sentenced in both cases mid month and an 11th hour commutation was basically a given, few would contest that decision. But this Pardon is much larger in scope, and duration than anyone reasonably expected. Specially since the ‘other’ criminal conduct would have been corruptly selling influence with his father as VP or POTUS. This is Nixon pardoning himself to stay in office, Trump was impeached for asking a famously corrupt country about the Biden’s dealings.
Charles Kushner served his time, pardoning him covered up nothing, nor benefited the President in any way. I have misgivings about his ambassadorship nomination.
Same goes for Clinton’s brother, he served his time.
I guess some animals are indeed more equal than others!
The French love sex scandals. Kushner is the perfect candidate to be an ambassador.
To 3:00
1. A politician not telling the truth on the campaign trail, I'm shocked. But I would've advised Biden to say this was a pure political prosecution, and he would pardon Hunter (as any father would do; after all, Joe put Hunter in the crosshairs).
2. This is not at all like Nixon pardoning himself. Be better.
3. Did you really refer to fellow humans as "animals?" For a New Years resolution, try on some empathy. See how it fits.
The soft libtards strike again!
When did they stop teaching Orwell?
Back to DOM’ s article, there’s plenty of people unfairly prosecuted, but a large chunk of them got taken care by Trump and the first step act. You’re welcome.
Now onto more Special ‘animals’, who else should Biden preemptively Pardon to protect them from Trump returning the favor and weaponizing the DoJ in revenge for all the TLC he has been a recipient of? Fauci, 51 intelligence officials?
Joe Biden's big mistake was saying he wouldn't pardon Hunter. Biden should now get busy pardoning everyone on Trump's Retribution Hit List and minimize Trump's ability to weaponize the DOJ after January 20.
Joe Biden should be criticized for the complete about-face. He left no wiggle room by repeatedly saying he would never pardon Hunter. Everyone (perhaps rightly) expected the pardon, but it hits differently given the complete 180. Regardless, this is a fitting end to the Biden era and another pockmark on his legacy. Lucky for him, he is too senile to realize it.
Biden was right, he was entitled to change his mind, and the blowback is ludicrous given Trump. There is no comparison. Trump hands out pardons as rewards for loyalty, to flaunt power, and to protect himself. Trump is corrupt through and through. Biden is a great president and father - not too senile to have many excellent legislative accomplishments and judicial appointments to his credit. And anyone who uses “libtard” is, well, probably a lost cause.
Make Orwell Fiction Again.
It’s supposed to be a cautionary tale, not a playbook.
Yes to fathers pardoning sons.
I think people who evade over $1 million in taxes on unreported foreign income are routinely prosecuted even if their last name isn't Biden. Even so, commute his sentence or just pardon him for the specific convictions (as was the case in the previous examples you cited). The scope and breadth of the pardon evinces the corrupt intent.
I think the opposite approach would have been better. Pardon him for uncharged conduct (if your fear is MAGA LEO will be vindictive and unhinged) but keep in place the convictions that already were done under the Biden DOJ and subject to an article III judge's discretionary sentence. At least keep the misdemeanor tax charges in place for which he pled guilty.
Also, disagree with the premise that "Many believe the prosecution [of Charles Kushner] was unjust." Sure it makes for a catchy reveal, but i suspect virtually all (except perhaps the Kushners) people who know the facts of the case think it was a garden variety, appropriate case. Maybe I'm wrong about that and I certainly wouldn't publish my speculation without proof.
"The scope and breadth of the pardon evinces the corrupt intent.: Lord, the dishonesty of the Trumpanistas is off the charts. The Donald has announced that he will seek "retribution." They have hounded this Hunter fellow, and you know that the dirtbags they are hiring, like Cash Patel, will go after Biden's kid. The pardon was to take him off the chessboard. The howling and gnashing of teeth from the Nazis is such bad faith.
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