Read this:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/president-joe-biden-pardons-son-hunter-biden/story?id=116358693
President Joe Biden issues pardon for son Hunter Biden
President Joe Biden has pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted on federal gun charges and is due for sentencing in December.
Despite the White House’s assurances last month that the president had no intentions of pardoning his son, the announcement came through on Sunday evening that he had pardoned him.
In a statement, he said, “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” for what he called a “miscarriage of justice.”
“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,” he wrote.
President Biden also mentioned “political opponents in Congress,” whom he credited for instigating the charges and for ensuring that a plea deal, composed in July, fell apart in August.
The statement concluded, “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.”
Over the summer, a jury found the younger Biden guilty on three felony counts related to his purchase and possession of a firearm while addicted to drugs. And in September, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to nine tax-related charges, including three felonies, on the eve of what was expected to be a lengthy and grueling trial.
For the tax charges, Hunter Biden faced up to 17 years in federal prison and $1.35 million in fines. His gun-related conviction carried a potential of up to 25 years in prison.
Hunter Biden was scheduled to face sentencing for both cases in the coming weeks – on Dec. 12 on the gun-related charges in Delaware, and Dec. 16 on the tax charges in California.
Asked about the president’s intentions to pardon Hunter Biden on Nov. 7, shortly after the election results came through in favor of Donald Trump, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.”
She declined to comment on any other pardons the president may make before the end of his term, including any administration officials or people threatened by President-elect Donald Trump with legal action.
President Biden had also previously told ABC News’ David Muir that he did not intend to pardon his son, during an interview in June.
He said, at the time, that he would accept the results of the trial.
At a White House briefing in June, President Biden also stated, “I’m extremely proud of my son Hunter. He has overcome an addiction. He is — he’s one of the brightest, most decent men I know.”
He added, “I said I’d abide by the jury decision, and I will do that. And I will not pardon him.”
He released a statement on Sunday, saying, “I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport. Despite all of this, I have maintained my sobriety for more than five years because of my deep faith and the unwavering love and support of my family and friends. In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages. In recovery we can be given the opportunity to make amends where possible and rebuild our lives if we never take for granted the mercy that we have been afforded.”
The statement continued, “I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”
Within an hour of President Biden’s pardon, Hunter Biden’s legal team filed perfunctory notices with the courts in both criminal cases. Attorneys wrote, “The President’s pardon moots Mr. Biden’s pending and yet to occur sentencing and entry of judgment in this case and requires an automatic dismissal of the Indictment with prejudice.”
For the record, if President Biden had issued that pardon after Kamala Harris was elected last month. I would have opposed such a move. But Donald Trump being elected means that the American people have decided once and for all that they do NOT want an ethical leadership. They WANT corruption, bigotry, cruelty and incompetence in America’s leadership, period! So President Biden has leaned his lesson and has given up; Republicans have ruthlessly treated ethical consistency as a weakness, and sought to punish Democrats like President Clinton for ethical failures, such as in his affair with Monica Lewinski, but even he had a sense of shame after owning up to that incident. Republicans like Trump have no shame whatsoever. Richard Nixon was pardoned for Watergate by Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan was never punished in any way for the Iran-Contra scandal, and President Bush Jr. was actually reelected after starting a totally needless war against Iraq.
Rules for Dems, not for Reps, amirite?
Statement from President JoeBiden
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.
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Executive Grant of Clemency
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President of the United States of America
To All to Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greeting:
Be It Known, That This Day, I, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States, Pursuant to My Powers Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Constitution, Have Granted Unto
ROBERT HUNTER BIDEN
A Full and Unconditional Pardon
For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss in Docket No. 1:23-cr-00061-MN in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and Docket No. 2:23-CR-00599-MCS-1 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto signed my name and caused the Pardon to be recorded with the Department of Justice.
Done at the City of Washington this 1st day of December in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States the Two Hundred and Forty-ninth.
No one who watched Trump misuse his position as President from 2017 to 2021 should object to Biden doing what Trump would have done for any of his own kids in the same situation.
When Republicans start supporting and electing ethical leaders again, I will take their whining about possible corruption in government caused or enabled by Democrats seriously.
If Republicans like Nixon did not go to prison for Watergate and Trump does not go to prison for his criminal convictions, why should a Democrat like Hunter Biden pay any legal penalty? The playing field is now leveled for both parties.
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