President Biden’s hypocrisy on full display: Pardons his own son after making a point about ‘independent’ justice"
In a move that’s being hailed as a “full and unconditional” pardon, President Joe Biden has announced that he’s granting his son Hunter Biden a free pass for all federal charges related to his time between 2014-2024. Just 50 days before leaving office, Biden had previously declared that he wouldn’t be making the move, stating he’d abide by the jury’s decision. But now, it seems he was just playing a different tune.
TL;DR
President Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who was facing up to 25 years in prison for lying on a federal form about his drug addiction. This comes after months of saying he wouldn’t make the move, and is being met with criticism from politicians and others who called him out on his earlier stance. A case of “my family is more important than I am” - how about keeping your promises for once?
Biden lied about not pardoning his son shocker. Guy is a lying scumbag.
Fuck you Biden could have pardon everyone son arrested for pot.
Didn’t biden admin pardon non-violent drug offenders?
Does that make up for all the 3rd strike your out victims me boot tastes so good?
You eat your own boots??
Dem*
Yes for marijuana possession convictions specifically at a federal level, he felt he didn’t have the authority to pardon State convictions.
after he overturned all the federal convictions, he said:
"Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the use or possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either”
https://apnews.com/article/biden-marijuana-pardons-clemency-02abde991a05ff7dfa29bfc3c74e9d64
I don’t think the president can pardon for state crimes. I mean, at least this supreme court isn’t gonna let Biden pardon for state crimes anyways.
he felt he didn’t have the authority to pardon State convictions.
That’s because he doesn’t have that authority. Your quote is him gently hinting to the states that they should follow his lead, but there’s nothing he can do to force them to.
that is an accurate paraphrasing of his statement and my comment explaining it.
Also no he didn’t.
Definitely pardoned non-violent, non-distributing cannabis users. Doesn’t expand to other drugs that it should, but that’s a lot of convictions.
Federal convicted, so a guy burning one at the national Park. State charges still stick. Honesty what world do you live in that you think this is enough?
What the fuck did you want him to do about state charges? 💀
What he campaigned on? oH bUt hE tRiEd, iTs JuSt sO HaRd aNd ThE RePUbliCaNs …
I think he’s concerned Trumps DOJ is going to come after them. Still super shady. But that’d be my guess as to why he did it, beyond the whole, he’s my kid thing.
Should be illegal to pardon family members honestly. If there was ever an easy example of a conflict of interest, this is one.
I’d say make it illegal to pardon people who committed crimes to protect you (Ollie North, half Trump’s advisors) first.
Too bad the judges that would decide that are bought and paid for
So what? Maybe it should be but it isn’t. The Constitution places virtually no limitation on the Presidents ability to offer clemency and no one in the last 250 years or so has seen fit to amend the constitution to change that despite the fact that the Republicans have been abusing the power of the pardon since at least the Reagan years. Now you are complaining because a Democratic President has used it *appropriately *to pardon someone who was convicted in a politically motivated circus?
What’s your point? If you break the law, you should be treated like everybody else, not pardoned by the president. It’s a bullshit ability that should be taken away from the president.
What’s your point? If you break the law, you should be treated like everybody else
That is exactly my point. Others who have committed the same crimes are treated with a slap on the wrist. Republicans, in Hunter’s case, were insisting on heavy handed prosecution and were pushing very hard for a jail sentence. He deserved a pardon exactly because he was not being treated like everybody else.
You mean like how Trump is about to pardon himself?
You mean like Ivanka’s father-in-law who Trump pardoned and named ambassador to France?
Exactly.
For Biden, it was the most difficult decision of his presidency. For Trump, it was Tuesday.
Yep, absolutely. Presidential powers should be used for the good of the country, not the good of your friends and family. There are many legitimate reasons to pardon people but them being related to you is not one of them.
For the good of the country? This was literally always just a judgement call. “I think they deserve a pardon” is the only criteria there ever was. I’m sure there are examples you could claim were good for the country somehow, but I’m not sure how common that is
A fair point but do you think Hunter would have been prosecuted to the same extent if he hadn’t been related to Joe Biden?
However, it may work out better in the end for him that they went after him for ALL the crimes, because now he’s pardoned for all of them and can’t be tried for them again. We know Trump wants to go after Joe, but he’ll have to come from a different direction.
If he hadn’t been related to Joe Biden he wouldn’t have had the lifetime of cushy boardroom and lobbyist jobs to lead to being persecuted.
So regular folks don’t get prosecuted for lying when purchasing a firearm?
Oh no, the millionaire was prosecuted for breaking the law.
Oh and don’t forget the unpaid taxes they were after him for as well.
Why is everyone so mean to the millionaire presidents son, he has it rough.
You’re not going to solve nepotism by showing a picture of Hunter’s dong in Congress.
lead to being persecuted
He was being persecuted and still is by the GOP (Gray Old Pedophiles)
I don’t blame Biden for doing this. The qons will try to exact some extra-legal revenge on Hunter if they can get him into prison over his hard drive, er, I mean, “laptop”.
Good decision. Trump and his gang promised all kinds of revenge. They don’t play by the rules. So it makes sense to do whatever for your last son.
If we’re going to start abusing presidential power preemptively, can we get some sort of executive protections for trans rights or waiving student loans? Things that’ll help someone other than the addict failson?
Trump would just cancel them all. Day one like he did last time.
Canceling student loans would be hard to undo though. If we’re shutting down the Department of education anyway… who’s keeping track?
Agreed. If Hunter Biden’s issues hadn’t been politically weaponized so much, I doubt Biden would have done it, but the truth is, with Trump coming in to office and threatening retaliation, it makes sense to pardon him.
The crimes Hunter was charged with are rarely enforced and rarely involve jail time. The Republican’s made this a political circus that would have certainly had Hunter doing time. If it wasn’t for that, Joe would not have needed to pardon him.
Honestly I kinda like the idea of people in high places doing time for things us plebs might, but my concern is Hunter getting the Epstein treatment, so I think the pardon is warranted.
Yep. You just know some redhat on the inside - guard or prisoner - would love to get their hands on Hunter, and he’d have no protection at all.
Yeah even the president isn’t going to stand behind the American justice system.
This doesn’t change that or do anything to prevent it
It’s entirely unrelated
Good decision. Trump and his gang promised all kinds of revenge. They don’t play by the rules. So it makes sense to do whatever for your last son.
I would hope those that oppose Trump do not just adopt all his behaviors.
I mean I fucking hate Biden’s guts but it literally makes no sense to leave his son at the victim of Trump. Whatever Hunter was getting was never going to be justice either way.
This shows that none of the 2 parties believe that the democratic system in the USA works anymore.
Which means, it’s dead now.It’s been dead for a little bit
Yes, it is. So the Democrats, and anyone else who wants to try and resurrect it, need to get off their asses and start fighting dirty to rebuild it. The Republicans have been fighting to tear it down for more than 40 years using endless dirty tricks. Time to fight fire with fire. We cannot save democracy with sternly worded letters.
Biden winning in 2020 gave us hope that people were realizing that fascists are full of shit and that they lie about everything, but Trump winning last month has shattered any faith or hope I had left in our two party system. It is hard to believe in a system when people are relentlessly assaulted with right wing propaganda year after year and then ultimately vote for a convicted felon pedo traitorous oligarch who denies climate science.
Didn’t the Justice Department originally decide not to pursue charges until Republicans threw a fit? Seems like it was already a politically motivated prosecution, so I have no issues with a political pardon.
Fight fire with fire, if you keep going high the other party will realize it means they can go low and you’ll never do anything about it.
I hate this approach and would rather lose. The high road is the only road. I take it not because it is easy, but because it is worthwhile.
Have fun being oppressed then
You’re too good for this world. Or at least you think you are.
I think the issue a lot of us have with this is less that he’s stooping to Trump’s level, and more that he’s only doing it to help his own family. Abusing the office of the president is apparently fine and good if its done on behalf of someone who’s name is Biden, but the rest of the planet can get fucked.
I mostly agree. This is abuse of Presidential power so it is hypocritical for liberals to deny that… But, at the same time, if I were in Biden’s situation I would likely do the same. And here is why:
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It is his son. His last son. Of course any loving father will do whatever they can to protect their son.
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Why should Democrats care what Republicans think? Democrats are getting curb stomped by fascists who give zero shit about the integrity of our institutions or abuse of political power. They truly don’t. People voted for a pedophile felon traitorous oligarch. If you agree to an honorable sparring match of fisty-cuffs and your opponent pulls out a glock and shoots you in the knees and the crowd cheers for the cheater, do you have any moral or pragmatic reason to keep playing by the rules? No.
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I mean… there’s another read on this whole thing, too: “huh, I guess everyone voted for nepotism and insider deals, so why the fuck not, especially in this context?”
Biden’s just giving the electorate a preview of what they voted for.
Is he though? Isn’t one of the purposes of presidential pardons to protect a person from unjust political persecution. If Republicans weren’t Trump’s party I would agree it’s nepotism, but it is Trump’s party who will be in power. Trump has vowed to seek revenge on his opponents. Joe Biden is too old to really be punished as much as the Republicans want him to be, but Hunter Biden has many years left. MAGA Republicans could punish him for their hate of his father for at least four years, if not the rest of his life. Isn’t that one of the purposes of a presidential pardon?
Agreed. This gives Hunter the chance to maybe even move somewhere outside the country if he needs to.
Then pardon Vindman, Liz Cheney, and everyone else who didn’t commit actual crimes that Trump will actually take revenge on too. Or just admit this is plain nepotism.
I voted for Harris, but I’m also sick of watching Biden single-handedly prop up MAGA with his ridiculous bullshit. And we’re not doing ourselves any favors by trying to justify this - the election’s over, we can stop pretending we like this guy now. Replace the failed leaders, yell at them until they go into the private sector. Now is the best time.
Well this is just plain nepotism. I don’t think anyone is questioning that. Maga doesn’t need any propping up, they won. They won by doing a lot more than nepotism and promising even more of it. It’s what people want it seems.
A grandpa at the end of his life doing something for his only son, how does that even matter.
I’m not an American, and as such I don’t think it’s my thing to speak on so do not take this as an obstructive comment, but I will reflect on it anyway. I believe that this was, on balance, a bad decision even if I understand it and can find good, honest reasons for Biden to do it. In the end, the POTUS has this power and is free to use it as the president wishes. I hope it will lead to something positive.
The fact that Trump has said that he might pardon Hunter and now is complaining about the fact that Biden did it himself shows once again how everything said by Donald is a convenient temporary truth. Even if this puts the light on Biden also being problematic with this behavior.
It’s a poison pill for pardons. Either they are essentially absolute and irreversible, or they aren’t and all of the ones Trump made and will make are up for debate. He can grumble all he wants but for Trump to call this pardon “such an abuse and miscarriage of justice” is absolutely laughable given the decade of insanity and illegal stuff coming out of his orange anus. The toilet photo of all the documents should have been enough to jail this man for life in a black site but I guess justice is a miscarriage after all.
Justice is the one abortion of which they approve.
If the republicans don’t like this, the democrats will happily support a supermajority legislature vote that starts limiting executive power.
…in 5, 4, 3, what? who cancelled the countdown? /s
Good
ITT: people who ignored the persecution Hunter has faced and are judging this on only an extremely shallow level
ITT a couple instances acting exactly how you’d expect those people to act.
ITC: people who ignored the sheer levels of privilege on display.
Pardon all Trump prosecutors.
You can only pardon someone who was convicted of a crime. This was a topic with “general” Flynn, who Trump desperately wanted to prepardon so that they would stop digging into his obvious and blatant corrupt ties to foreign oligarchs. It will also probably be discussed again in relation to Tulsi and her ties to Russia.
You can only pardon someone who was convicted of a crime.
I don’t believe that’s true. See the pardon of Richard Nixon, who was never even impeached, let alone charged. I believe there’s some debate on the validity of such a pardon, but none (including Nixon’s pardon) have been challenged in court.
It is indeed untrue. Joe just gave Hunter a general pardon spanning a length of time. Not for a specified crime, necessarily.
To bolster your point, Andrew Johnson issued a blanket pardon to all Confederate soldiers in regards to treason and insurrection. Not every individual former Confederate soldier had been convicted of these crimes, but still gained immunity.
I wouldn’t hold it to the media to make it seem like it was more unprecedented, maybe the trick was that he wasn’t even charged yet?
Trump committed treason on national television, Hunter was only ever charged because his dad was President of the party opposite of the Prosecutor.
If the former gets off scott free, so should the later.
Tough on crime, except when it’s his nepobaby.
Hope he continues the trend. Id love a full send on dark brandon EOs
It would have been nice if he could have used his presidential powers
to prevent the genocide…
Or anything he promised to do while in office
Or to change that stupid ATF form 4473 which basically requires anyone who smokes weed to either commit a felony by lying (checking the box for they don’t use illegal drugs) or tell the truth (checking the box that they do) and being unable to purchase a firearm. Unfortunately the war on law abiding gun owners had to continue so on a few occasions their position continued to be that marijuana users should not be allowed to buy or own firearms.
Hypocrisy+++++
That question is required by HR 1025 (“The Brady Act”). To get rid of weed as a factor, there would either need to be a change to the form requirement, or weed to be made federally legal and thus not an illegal substance. The requirement is not an ATF determination.
Joe Biden could theoretically pardon all people in violation of this, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for a blanket universal pardon involving guns and weed together.
Joe Biden could theoretically pardon all people in violation of this, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for a blanket universal pardon involving guns
Nope. Biden’s DOJ was happily pushing the ‘weed users can’t have guns’ as one angle of gun control, while the administration was simultaneously pushing the ‘weed shouldn’t be persecuted’ angle. Quite hypocritical really.
I was just pointing out the way on a limb theoretical to cover all my bases. The Presidential pardon could in theory be used on a mass scale (and it has been in the past) but in realistic terms, no it won’t happen. That said, inside the realm of some sort of reality weed will still be a factor on 4473 until the law either removes the question about illegal drugs, or weed is made federally legal. That’s not something controlled solely by the executive branch.
didn’t we, i of course mean the people who showed up, vote for this very kind of behaviour in the last presidential election? what’s sauce for the goose…
