CNN legal analyst Ellie Honig called President Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter a “historic act of political nepotism.”
“There has been a fair debate over the years as to whether Hunter Biden is being treated unduly leniently or unduly zealously because of his status as Joe Biden's son. “It's been done,” Honig said. CNN Monday morning.
“I think both sides have a point about that. But what I don't think is controversial is that this is a historic act of political nepotism. This is a pardon for his son.
He added that Biden's “full and unconditional pardon” for his son was “the broadest possible pardon.” I forgive Hunter for all his crimes. He compared the “full and unconditional” pardon to the pardon that President Ford granted to former President Richard Nixon as the only close precedent.
“Joe Biden has also said this – if you understand what he's saying, he acknowledges that a huge part of the problem is because Hunter Biden is his son. It would probably put Joe Biden on a historical list that he doesn't want to be on,'' Honig said.
President Biden said in a statement Sunday that he granted the pardon because his son was the target of political prosecution.
“Efforts have been made to break through Hunter's five-and-a-half years of sobriety, even in the face of relentless attacks and selective prosecution,” the statement said. “They tried to break Hunter, and they tried to break me too—and there's no reason to believe it'll stop here. Enough is enough.”
The White House claimed Monday that the president granted the pardon because President-elect Trump and the Republican Party “will not let Hunter Biden go.”
Hunter Biden was convicted in June in a federal case of three felonies related to the purchase and possession of a gun in 2018 and violated the law by concealing drug use. He also avoided a trial in September by pleading guilty to nine federal tax charges.
He was due for a sentencing hearing next week.
