Joe Biden Pardons his son

[Remius]

To be fair, Trump et al has said that publicly, multiple times. No reason to think he would then say “just kidding!”

Agreed. I think what could have muted some criticism would have been an announcement that he would pardon Trump as well. So that at least the US wouldn’t have a convicted felon as president and “in the spirit of moving on” etc etc.

 

[brihard]

An oldie but a goodie

Feds Wistfully Gaze At Photo Of Hunter Biden’s Penis One Last Time Before Closing Investigation

WASHINGTON—Eyes welling up with tears as their time together came to an end, federal agents reportedly gazed at a photo of Hunter Biden’s penis one last time Tuesday before officially closing the pertinent investigation. “I suppose that’s the end of things between you and me, old friend,” said...

theonion.com

 

[suffolkowner]

Is this even going to be the worst pardon from Biden? Im sure there will be others, the only thing lacking is the last name

 

[Remius]

Is this even going to be the worst pardon from Biden? Im sure there will be others, the only thing lacking is the last name

Not the worst. Likely to most high profile.

 

[mariomike]

Kash Patel said he plans to do as FBI director,

Wonder what J. Edgar Hoover would have thought of Kash as Director of the Bureau.

 

[Navy_Pete]

Agreed. I think what could have muted some criticism would have been an announcement that he would pardon Trump as well. So that at least the US wouldn’t have a convicted felon as president and “in the spirit of moving on” etc etc.

Why bother? I'm sure one of the first things Trump will do is pardon himself and family, as well as a whack of his supporters (like Matt Gaetz)

 

[suffolkowner]

Why bother? I'm sure one of the first things Trump will do is pardon himself and family, as well as a whack of his supporters (like Matt Gaetz)

he already did

List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

at this point its just another one of the games played in American politics

 

[Navy_Pete]

he already did

List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

at this point its just another one of the games played in American politics

Yeah, but they are dated, so he'd probably expand the scope and timing. The Hunter pardon covered something like 10 years.

 

[Furniture]

he did that its done. The people chose another and if people were concerned about criminals then they wouldnt have elected one

Obviously not, because the only convicted criminal is about to become President of the United States in a few weeks.

The (current) president can pardon whomever he wants to pardon other than himself (which would be irrelevant since he has immunity as a result of a gift from Trump's majority SCOTUS). He pardon his son. Big Deal. Get over it. It's not like he pardoned an Hannibal Lecter type.

I don't even see this as interesting news in the current US context.

The problem with this sort of take, is it plays into the hands of the anti-establishment types. There are people who like Trump because he is at least an honest liar... People know he lies, and he doesn't try to pretend that he doesn't.

When the "honest" politicians are seen doing things like pardoning their own children, it feeds into people's idea at all politicians are corrupt, and out for themselves. Why care that the next POTUS is a convicted criminal, when the others are just as bad but haven't been caught?

 

[suffolkowner]

The problem with this sort of take, is it plays into the hands of the anti-establishment types. There are people who like Trump because he is at least an honest liar... People know he lies, and he doesn't try to pretend that he doesn't.

When the "honest" politicians are seen doing things like pardoning their own children, it feeds into people's idea at all politicians are corrupt, and out for themselves. Why care that the next POTUS is a convicted criminal, when the others are just as bad but haven't been caught?

and thats the problem with not rewarding people for their actions. Its like us up here telling Singh to bring down Trudeau when no one will vote for him. Biden isnt the first to pardon family. Trump did it. Clinton did it. Id be more concerned about a lot more of the pardoned then this.

 

[Navy_Pete]

The problem with this sort of take, is it plays into the hands of the anti-establishment types. There are people who like Trump because he is at least an honest liar... People know he lies, and he doesn't try to pretend that he doesn't.

When the "honest" politicians are seen doing things like pardoning their own children, it feeds into people's idea at all politicians are corrupt, and out for themselves. Why care that the next POTUS is a convicted criminal, when the others are just as bad but haven't been caught?

I think the fact that they are putting a random political aide in charge of the FBI who has said he will go after Hunter and others is a pretty reasonable reason to drop a pardon, and personnally I'd probably have some kind of blanket pardon for anyone else in my team to prevent them from being victims of blatant politically driven persecution.

Even completely innocent people can be completely ruined defending themselves against the government (Mark Norman comes to mind; he was being run into the ground before they finally backed off and settled, including paying his mortgage sized legal bill, and that was with support from a lot of RCN members and random Canadians contributing to his defence).

 

[OldSolduer]

The problem with this sort of take, is it plays into the hands of the anti-establishment types. There are people who like Trump because he is at least an honest liar... People know he lies, and he doesn't try to pretend that he doesn't.

When the "honest" politicians are seen doing things like pardoning their own children, it feeds into people's idea at all politicians are corrupt, and out for themselves. Why care that the next POTUS is a convicted criminal, when the others are just as bad but haven't been caught?

One more reason why above average people don’t enter politics: corruption of the system

 

[Navy_Pete]

One more reason why above average people don’t enter politics: corruption of the system

The whole US checks and balance system of the branches sort of relies on people being somewhat rational and decent human beings though, and if you have a bad apple there is someone else to intercede.

When you have swathes of each branch in key positions being corrupt, inept and/or unqualified behaving maliciously it's not the system that is falling apart, it's the people.

 

[brihard]

Yeah, but they are dated, so he'd probably expand the scope and timing. The Hunter pardon covered something like 10 years.

Yup- January 1st, 2014 to today.

I don’t like it, but given the outright pledge of revenge investigations and prosecutions from the incoming director of the FBI, I don’t really blame him.

President Biden’s statement related to the pardon can be read here: Joe Biden’s statement on his decision to pardon Hunter – in full | Joe Biden | The Guardian

Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted. Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form. Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.
The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.
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 – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.
For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. 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. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.

 

[mariomike]

I don’t like it, but given the outright pledge of revenge investigations and prosecutions from the incoming director of the FBI, I don’t really blame him.

When you have swathes of each branch in key positions being corrupt, inept and/or unqualified behaving maliciously it's not the system that is falling apart, it's the people.

Don't like it either.

But. with Kash as America's top G-Man, it's pretty hard to blame Joe.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Psalm 11:3

 

[FSTO]

Agree or disagree with this opinion?

His Majesty The President

The president is becoming the 18th Century monarch Americans rebelled against

open.substack.com

 

[mariomike]

Nothing new about presidential pardons,

The president’s explanation might sound familiar to anyone who has listened to Donald Trump rail against America’s system of justice in recent years.

Trump, as he exited the White House in 2021, issued a series of pardons for his close associates and allies who had been swept up in the multiple criminal investigations that encircled him throughout his presidential term. In doing so, he bypassed established White House procedures for exercising the broad presidential pardon power. And although he was criticised for the action at the time, there were little if any political consequences.

It’s something to keep in mind when Trump returns to office, as he is expected to again use his pardoning power to aid associates who have been prosecuted during the Biden presidency – and to free many of his supporters who have been convicted during the 6 January 2021 assault on the US Capitol.

 

[QV]

No surprise Biden pardoned Hunter. That was expected. What I think will be interesting if there are any other pardons (pardoned in advance of investigative action) that come before Biden steps down... I'm thinking the slew of bureaucrats that might be worried about the Patel FBI appointment. This should be interesting. March in the guilty bastards!

And for what it's worth, America voted for the wrecking ball so Trump will give them the wrecking ball. Is the corrupt progressive left about to enter the "find out" phase of FAFO?

 

[Brad Sallows]

All those promises from the candidate and his spokespeople, gone like piss in the wind.

A pardon could have covered crimes not yet charged without including the convictions, if the aim were to forestall persecution by the incoming administration.

I can't stop laughing this morning.