The covert and far-reaching nature of President Biden's maneuver to pardon his son was so disturbing that the Justice Department's Office of Pardon Counsel was said to have been caught off guard.
Days after a family Thanksgiving powwow on Nantucket Island, Biden, 82, broke with himself and the White House on a long-standing promise to give his troubled son a January 1st He publicly announced that he would be granted a full pardon for crimes he had committed or may have committed during that time. 2014 and December 1, 2024.
Typically, presidents consult the pardon attorney's office when making such decisions, but the office was surprised by his actions. A source told Politico..
The pardon attorney's office's standard practice is to typically recommend full pardons for individuals who have already served their sentences. Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced until next week.
Therefore, the Office of the Pardon Attorney probably wasn't The New York Times first reported that he recommended such a step to the president's scandal-scarred son.
Additionally, the lame-duck president will go a step further and issue the most sweeping “full and unconditional” pardon in modern history, with the exception of former President Gerald Ford's controversial pardon for his predecessor Richard Nixon. This deviated from the typical norm.
Critics within Democrats and progressive circles are concerned that Biden has given President-elect Donald Trump new excuses and precedent to grant a similar broad pardon.
“I know there was a strong feeling to protect Hunter Biden (54) from unwarranted prosecution,” Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) told CNN. “But this will be used against us as we fight abuses by the Trump administration.”
Still, while presidents have long enjoyed broad constitutional discretion to grant pardons, there are significant restrictions on granting them without committing crimes such as bribery.
Biden is not the first president to sidestep the recommendations of the Office of the Pardon Attorney. For example, President Trump, 78, has repeatedly pardoned people who were not recommended by the executive branch.
46th president claims 'Hunter received special treatment' in granting pardon, blames political rivals for son's prosecution, repeats Trump's rhetoric regarding four charges he faces Ta.
Ironically, it was Biden's own Justice Department that pursued the charges against his eldest son.
President Trump denounced the outgoing president's pardon as an “abuse and misuse of justice.”
“Does the pardon Joe granted Hunter also include J-6 hostages who have now been imprisoned for years?” he added in a post on Truth Social, on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021 He hinted that some of the rioters might be pardoned.
In subsequent Congressional testimony, the Trump administration claimed in the twilight of his first term that it had received a similarly broad pardon request for former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida). But it was rejected.
President Trump also floated the possibility of a self-pardon, which has not been tested in court, but that idea was also rejected. The New York Times reported.
During the Biden administration, the pardon attorney's office responded to approximately 12,000 requests for presidential intervention.
To date, the president has granted 157 pardons, including 25 pardons to revoke convictions and 132 commutations to reduce sentences. per daTa From the Office of the Pardon Attorney.
It is unclear whether these statistics include the presidential pardon for Hunter Biden.
By contrast, President Trump has granted 238 pardons, including 94 commutations and 144 pardons, according to the Office of the Pardon Attorney.
The newspaper has contacted spokespeople for the White House and the Office of the Pardon Attorney for comment.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Mariellen Noreika issued an order that “all proceedings in this case are hereby terminated” on three counts against him related to possession of a firearm while under the influence of illegal drugs.
Nine California tax evasion cases have not yet been concluded as of 4pm EST Tuesday, but attorneys have filed motions for clemency.
