Biden’s pardon of his son shows that presidents now act differently

Joe Biden has repeatedly denied it that he would pardon his son Hunter for tax and gun evasion or reduce his substantive prison sentence.

On the Sunday night after Thanksgiving – at a time when the American public’s attention was focused elsewhere – he announced that he had changed his mind.

“There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been sober for five and a half years, even in the face of relentless attacks and potential prosecution,” he wrote in the press release announcing his decision. selective”. “In trying to take Hunter down, they tried to take me down – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”

Biden’s move sparked angry accusations of hypocrisy from Republicans – for breaking promises and using presidential power to protect his son. One Democratic governor, Jared Polis of Colorado, quickly issued a statement saying he was “disappointed” and that the move would “tarnish” the outgoing president’s reputation.

Presidents have pardoned family members in the past. In 2001, Bill Clinton granted clemency to his brother Roger who was convicted of drugs in 1985. However, Hunter Biden’s “full and unconditional” pardon was especially generous. It includes his criminal convictions, as well as any future charges for “crimes against the United States” from early 2014 through this Sunday.

That period included two years Hunter Biden served on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma and was involved in other international deals while his father served as vice chairman. Republicans allege that Hunter Biden improperly benefited from his father’s powerful position and that the elder Biden was involved in his son’s business dealings.

The president’s explanation for the pardon may seem familiar to anyone who has heard Donald Trump criticize the US justice system in recent years.

Trump, upon leaving the White House in 2021, issued a series of pardons to his close associates and allies who were caught up in the multiple criminal investigations that surrounded him throughout his presidency. his system. In doing so, he bypassed established White House procedures for exercising the president’s broad pardon power. And although he was criticized for this action at the time, there were few political consequences.

In fact, last week, Trump announced that he is nominating one of the 2021 pardon recipients – Charles Kushner, father of son-in-law Jared Kushner – serves as US ambassador to France. Kushner was convicted of campaign finance violations, tax evasion and witness tampering in 2005 and served two years in prison.

Yet as Biden’s political career comes to a close, there is little price he may have to pay for his actions. And because Democrats lost power in both Congress and the White House last month, few members of the party in positions of power have faced consequences.

If Vice President Kamala Harris wins, her presidential transition will be at least temporarily derailed, as she will be forced to condemn Biden’s move. It could make such sweeping action by Biden less likely. Instead, the nation’s attention will quickly turn back to Trump’s upcoming presidency.

The rules governing presidential pardons — or at least the established processes and hurdles that guided their use — appear to have been fundamentally and permanently altered. At this point, there may be little basis for anyone to complain, regardless of which side of the political aisle they stand on.

Jeffrey Crouch, a legal expert at American University, told CBS, the BBC’s American partner: “With this decision, Biden has now made it easy for Trump to abuse clemency again.” “If presidents of both political parties feel free to abuse clemency without consequences, the pardon power will become less of a political tool.”

The Trump camp was quick to respond to the news of Biden’s pardon, saying the president-elect would fix the US justice system and restore due process in his second term.

That’s something to keep in mind when Trump returns to power, as he is expected to once again use his pardon power to support associates who were indicted during Biden’s presidency — and pay freedom for many of his supporters who were convicted during the January 6, 2021, riot at the United States Capitol.

Trump mentioned the Jan. 6 cases when criticizing Hunter Biden’s pardon, and he will likely cite the president’s actions when issuing his own round of pardons next year.

Both sides will continue to accuse the other of partisan prosecution and governing as if they are above the law. An American public that polls show is already skeptical about ethics in government may now be even more convinced that both sides are at fault.