In the waning days of his presidency Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter on both charges, tax fraud and gun possession. After having asserted on multiple occasions that he would respect the court verdicts, why did the President go back on his word? Speculation about whether he had planned to do so all along will run rampant, and we may never know the answer to that question, but in the face of Trump’s “hostile takeover” of the White House in what is supposed to be a period of cooperative and respectful transition, and his venomous campaign run on the promise of revenge and retribution, Biden’s reversal should surprise no one.
“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,” the President said. “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.”
The move is not unusual, Presidents issue pardons towards the end of their terms. Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner in December 2020. Kushner, a real estate developer and the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, had been convicted in 2005 of tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions, and witness tampering. The case was a particularly sordid family drama as well. He was convicted of hiring a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, who was cooperating with federal authorities in an investigation against Kushner. The encounter was secretly recorded, and the tape was sent to Kushner’s sister, the man’s wife, in an attempt to intimidate and silence him. He served two years in prison for these offenses and was fully pardoned in the last days of Trump’s administration.
Biden has not been treated kindly in the last year or more, even by his own party who essentially shunted him aside when talk about his mental acuity started to threaten the viability of a democratic win in the presidential election. Once it became clear that he had little chance of winning, the Democratic party pushed him out of contention with little regard. By all accounts from insiders, Biden has become embittered by the unceremonious push. Kamala Harris was rushed into the race, even bypassing a primary run. Indeed, it also became clear that she rejected his active participation in her campaign, trying instead to dissociate herself as much as possible from some of his policies—especially immigration. The fact that in the end her attempts proved to be unsuccessful did not make her defeat any less painful or the revelation of Biden’s irrelevance any less humiliating for him. She was meant to continue Biden’s legacy, instead, his image will forever be associated with mental decline, embarrassing moments and failed policies.
As Trump has effectively commandeered the role of president—de facto if not yet de jure– the current president has become merely a shadow in the background. Indeed, practically invisible. Trump is completely ignoring the protocol of transition and riding roughshod over the incumbent in the Oval Office. For one thing, Trump’s team has delayed signing the memorandum of understanding with the Biden White House, which is crucial for coordinating with federal agencies. Indeed, he has pledged to dismantle and destroy federal agencies. Instead of using federal funding, Trump’s transition is backed by private donors, raising concerns about transparency and potential conflicts of interest. Trump’s Cabinet nominees have not undergone FBI vetting, which is a significant break from past practices and has raised security concerns. People like Elon Musk seem to have acquired an inordinate influence over policy decisions despite not having a clearly defined position and being a “civilian”. Trump has devised ways to bypass the established and legal ways to create agencies. DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), for example, does not have the authority of a federal executive department, which would require approval from Congress.
What must be mortifying for Biden is that heads of state and powerful personages are visiting the boastful newly elected Trump at Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring before he even gets it on his finger.
In the drubbing that Biden has taken in the last year or so, his legacy has become tainted. There is little chance that his presidency will be viewed with much admiration by history. He has experienced some of the lowest approval ratings of his presidency recently. According to FiveThirtyEight, his approval rating has been hovering around 36-41%. He is exiting the Office at the record low of 36%. Only President Jimmy Carter experienced such an ignominious send-off.
With such a record, and the end of his political career, Biden has nothing to lose at this point by pardoning his son. In doing so, Joe Biden has declared that the case against Hunter was politically motivated. Strictly speaking, the charges against Hunter were not directly initiated by former President Donald Trump. However, Trump and other Republicans have been unrelenting vocal critics of Hunter Biden, particularly focusing on his business dealings and personal conduct. The investigations and subsequent charges were carried out by federal authorities, and the legal process was independent of Trump’s direct involvement, but the fingerprints of his loyal allies are all over the persecution of Hunter Biden.
James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, has been a leading figure in investigating Hunter and has often condemned what he describes as the “Biden Crime Family”. Upon hearing of the pardon, Comer stated, “The president has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities. Not only has he falsely claimed that he never met with his son’s foreign business associates and that his son did nothing wrong, but he also lied when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden.”
It bears mentioning that despite these allegations, the long and arduous investigations have not produced any conclusive evidence of corruption directly implicating President Joe Biden. On the other hand, Trump was actually convicted in two major federal criminal cases and was awaiting sentencing. These include the 2020 election interference case and the classified documents case; both were dropped once Trump was elected. So, who is getting a pass here? Who is skirting the law?
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the bombastic and abrasive congresswoman from Georgia who has often made unfounded accusations on social media, retweeted a post from President Biden that said, “No one is above the law,” and replied, “Come to find out, Hunter is. But who is going to pardon Joe?”
Jim Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee suggested that the pardon only proved the need for his panel’s impeachment investigation of President Biden, saying, “Democrats said there was nothing to our impeachment inquiry. If that’s the case, why did Joe Biden just issue Hunter Biden a pardon for the very things we were inquiring about?”
Trump has promised to prosecute, lock up, deport, and even execute those he considers adversaries. During his term, he issued 143 pardons and 94 commutations, many of them to cronies who had been involved in his own misdoings and accusations of corruption. This included high-profile figures like Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, and Roger Stone. Biden’s pardon of his son pales in comparison in gravity, but it remains to be seen whether an individual as consumed by hatred and rage as Trump will let it go or find new ways to exact revenge.
