{"id":35402,"date":"2024-12-02T17:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T23:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=35402"},"modified":"2024-12-02T20:49:45","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T02:49:45","slug":"multiple-democrats-slam-biden-pardon-of-hunter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=35402","title":{"rendered":"Multiple Democrats slam Biden pardon of Hunter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

President Biden\u2019s decision to pardon<\/u><\/a> his son Hunter Biden\u2002<\/u><\/a>is further bruising a party that was already reeling from blistering electoral losses, with a wave of Capitol Hill Democrats criticizing the move as counterproductive to their party\u2019s efforts toward rebuilding public trust in American institutions scorned by President-elect Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some Democrats extended a measure of sympathy, President Biden took heat on several fronts, with most who have spoken out indicating the move did more harm than good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPresident Biden\u2019s pardon of his son Hunter is, as the action of a loving father, understandable \u2014 but as the action of our nation\u2019s Chief Executive, unwise,\u201d Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said on the social platform X<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) posted that the pardon<\/u><\/a> \u201cwas wrong,\u201d while Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said it puts \u201cpersonal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans\u2019 faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president announced a \u201cfull and unconditional pardon\u201d for his son on Sunday night, sending shock waves throughout Washington. It marked a major reversal for the White House, which for months insisted the president would not pardon Hunter Biden or commute his sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president argued the charges brought against the younger Biden were motivated by politics and the years-long scrutiny of him from Trump and other Republicans \u2014 complete with a winding impeachment probe and other lines of inquiry fueled by now-discredited informants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunter Biden\u2019s legal team, similarly, argued in a lengthy 52-page white paper released over the weekend that he faced tax and gun charges \u201cthat no one without the name \u2018Biden\u2019 would have faced.\u201d He was set to be sentenced later this month on both charges of failing to pay taxes and lying on gun forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a number of Democrats saw President Biden\u2019s sweeping clemency for his son \u2014 clearing him of any federal crimes committed during an 11-year period \u2014 as fueling the kind of arguments of a rigged and unfair system that are pushed by Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a father, I get it. But as someone who wants people to believe in public service again, it\u2019s a setback,\u201d Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) wrote on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Democrats who say the GOP attention on Hunter Biden has been too intense are balking at the president\u2019s move. The Republican-led panel leaders had deeply probed the Biden family\u2019s foreign business dealings, with outsized attention placed on Hunter Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can sympathize with his perspective that his son was subject to vigilante justice. I certainly witnessed that in Republican depositions of Hunter Biden and his attorney,\u201d Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said Monday on CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut having said that, what other father in America has the power to pardon their son or daughter if they\u2019re convicted of a crime?\u201d Connolly added. \u201cI really think we have to revisit the pardon power in the Constitution, and at the very least, I think we\u2019ve got to circumscribe it so that you don\u2019t get to pardon relatives, even if you believe passionately they\u2019re innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Biden also faced criticism for reversing his long-held stance that he would not pardon his son. The president and White House on a number of occasions \u2014 as recently as Nov. 7, two days after Trump won \u2014 said they would not grant clemency to Hunter Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), a former federal prosecutor, said he agreed with the president\u2019s rationale for the pardon \u2014 that Hunter Biden\u2019s prosecution was politically motivated \u2014 but added, \u201cI wish the president had not stated after the plea agreement fell through that he would not pardon Hunter Biden.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is discouraging that he has now gone back on his word on that,\u201d he added in an interview on CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though it is rare for Democrats to so openly criticize a president from their party, there is little downside in doing so now. President Biden, an unpopular president, is on his way out of office \u2014 after being pushed aside by his party and forced to abandon a reelection bid this summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those in competitive districts could even win points by so publicly bashing the move. Indeed, some criticism came from swing-district Democrats like Landsman and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) \u2014 who\u2002posted<\/u><\/a> that \u201cno family should be above the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A handful of Democrats, to be sure, defended Biden\u2019s decision, arguing the action is justifiable in the context of what might be coming from Trump. Biden feared Trump would continue to go after Hunter, the White House\u2002said<\/u><\/a> Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some also brushed aside GOP criticism, pointing out the scores of charges Trump faced in the lead-up to Election Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWay to go, Joe,\u201d said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), a member of the Oversight Committee. \u201cLet me be the first one to congratulate the president for deciding to do this, because at the end of the day, we know that we have a 34-count convicted felon that is about to walk into the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo for anyone that wants to clutch their pearls now, because he decided that he was going to pardon his son, I would say take a look in the mirror,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) said Monday on CNN he had \u201cmixed feelings\u201d about the pardon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a legitimate concern about what that could lead to, and I think that\u2019s part of why the president put in a 10-year stretch for the pardon term, because that should protect him against anything, really up to statute of limitations, basically, for most offenses,\u201d Ivey said. But, he added, \u201cA pardon at this point will be used against, I think, Democrats who were pushing to defend the Department of Justice against politicizing it, which is certainly what President Trump\u2002<\/u><\/a>plans to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump has already been using the pardon to boost his claims of corruption in the Department of Justice, reacting to the news by bringing up those in prison over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that was fueled by Trump\u2019s denial of the 2020 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuch an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!\u201d Trump posted on Truth Social.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s campaign also blasted out an email to\u2002fundraise<\/u><\/a> off the news, utilizing the exact kind of argument that Democrats feared: \u201cJoe Biden\u2002<\/u><\/a>weaponized the DOJ against President Trump, and now he wants to give Hunter Biden the sweet heart deal of the century.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While President Biden\u2019s pardoning of his son shook Washington, the sheer act \u2014 a president granting clemency to a family member \u2014 was not unprecedented. Hunter Biden joins a list of presidential relatives who were pardoned by the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connolly noted that Trump selected Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, to be ambassador to France. Trump in his last term had pardoned the elder Kushner, who in 2005 was sentenced to two years in prison over tax evasion, illegal campaign donation and witness tampering charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And former President Clinton pardoned his half-brother, Roger Clinton, for a cocaine possession conviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this instance comes after years of Democrats insisting they were the party that was respectful of the law enforcement apparatus and Justice Department, juxtaposing their behavior with that of Trump, who faced four criminal cases and was found guilty of 34 felony counts in one of them. Throughout Trump\u2019s legal entanglements \u2014 which the president-elect criticized at every juncture \u2014 Democrats sought to restore trust in the institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Biden\u2019s pardon, some Democrats say, runs counter to that mission. The president\u2019s statement argued that Hunter Biden \u201cwas singled out only because he is my son \u2014 and that is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Hunter Biden pardon was a mistake,\u201d Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) wrote on X. \u201cI sympathize with a father\u2019s love, especially in a family that has experienced so much personal tragedy. I also understand the legal arguments in favor of a pardon. But Presidential pardons are never judged solely on the merits of the case, particularly when it involves a family member.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPresidents hold enormous power and responsibility and must be held to a higher standard,\u201d he added. \u201cThey must instill trust and promote the American people\u2019s faith in their democracy. And right now, upholding the fabric of our democracy is one of our most important tasks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

thehill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Biden\u2019s decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden\u2002is further bruising a party that was already reeling from blistering electoral losses, with a wave of Capitol Hill Democrats criticizing the move as counterproductive to their party\u2019s efforts toward rebuilding public trust in American institutions scorned by President-elect Trump. While some Democrats extended a measure of sympathy, President Biden took heat on several […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":35403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1226,1169,1236,8316,24540],"class_list":["post-35402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-attack","tag-biden","tag-democrats","tag-hunt","tag-pardon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35404,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35402\/revisions\/35404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}