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| Source:Robert Reich talking about Joe & Hunter Biden. |
"My first reaction to the Sunday news that President Biden was pardoning his son Hunter was sadness.
Biden has a constitutional right to pardon his son, and I can understand his concern that Trump’s overt aim to use the Justice Department and FBI to pursue “retribution” against political enemies might subject Hunter to further charges and harassment.
House Republicans have claimed Hunter is guilty of more than the felonies he was charged with: lying on a firearms application form about his drug addiction and failing to pay taxes that he later did pay.
My sadness comes from President Biden’s suggestion that the charges against his son were influenced by Republican politicians. “It is clear that Hunter was treated differently,” he wrote. “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.” Biden continued: “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.”
I can understand President Biden’s frustration, but his claim that Republican politicians were responsible for Hunter’s legal problems lends credence to Trump’s long-term claim that the justice system was “weaponized” against him and that he was the victim of selective prosecution, as Biden says his son was.
Biden’s claim also makes it more difficult for Democrats to stand against Trump’s plans to use the Justice Department for political purposes as Trump seeks to install as director of the FBI the cringeworthy sycophant Kash Patel, who has vowed to “come after” Trump’s enemies...
But in suggesting that the charges against his son were politically motivated, President Biden has handed Trump something of a Trump card for arguing that of course the Justice Department is used for political ends, so watch me do the same.
Biden’s pardon also makes it more difficult for Democrats to criticize Trump for his use of the pardoning power to immunize friends and allies, at least one of whom he’s now appointing to an important diplomatic role.
Almost immediately after the news broke of President Biden’s pardon for Hunter, Trump used it to justify his planned pardon of the January 6 rioters. “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” he wrote on social media. “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
Among the people Trump pardoned in his final weeks in office was Charles Kushner, the father of Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who spent two years in prison on tax evasion and other charges. Over the weekend, Trump announced he would nominate the pardoned Kushner to be ambassador to France.
From Robert Reich
"As a father, I get why Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter. But, as president, you don't get to make purely personal decisions. This one will reverberate backward and forward in disastrous ways for Biden and Democrats."
From a post that I replied to David Pakman about this on Blue Sky yesterday.
David Pakman: No one is above the law (except for some people who are)
Derik Schneider: Damn, right! No one is above the law. Except the people who are.
From David Pakman
Former U.S. Representative and 1 of the chief Never-Trumper's in America, Adam Kinzinger on President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter:
"[Pres. Biden] was very clear that he wasn't going to [pardon Hunter Biden] then he turns around and does it," former Congressman Adam Kinzinger tells #TheView.
"It pales in comparison to, unfortunately, what I think you'll see under the Trump administration."
From The View
Whatever you think of Representative Kinzinger's (a man who I have a lot of respect for) point about this, he misses the point almost completely. (With all due respect)
Imagine someone robbing a bank and then his case is dismissed, because the detectives on the case didn't bother to read the defendant his rights. And then someone else comes along and decides to rob a convenient store and gets caught almost immediately. And his defense is: "What about the guy who robbed the bank? If he can rob a bank, I can rob a store". How do you think that would play in a courtroom?
I agree with Robert Reich as often as Seattle sees the sun and runs out of coffee on the same day. Or as often as people get stuck in traffic in Antartica. As often as Miami Dolphins home games are cancelled due to snow. But when Little Bob is right, he's damn right. And Chris Cilliza who I agree a lot more often (than Robert Reich, even) and who I have more in common with politically and generationally, is completely right here as well.
I'm not a father, (knock on wood) never wanted to be, especially now as I push 50 years old, and I completely understand President Biden wanting to do everything that he can to protect his last, remaining son, especially as he's about to leave The White House in about 6 weeks. But as Chris Cilliza said, he's not just a father. And I would add, he's not the President of the Biden Family, or even Delaware. He's the President of the United States. And therefor is constitutionally required to faithfully execute laws of the United States, equally, for every American.
You are not supposed to get special legal treatment in America, because your father is governor of your state, or President of the United States, especially by your governor or president. Both cases against Hunter are solid, which is why he was convicted. He even wanted to plea both of them out.
So those are bad legal, constitutional, consequences, as as well as the bad precedent that it sets. But the political consequence might just be as worst. Very likely that the first day that Donald Trump is sworn in again as President of the United States, which will be January 20, 2025, he'll pardon all the January 6, 2021 rioters. And perhaps other political allies who were involved in that case from the outside, people like Steve Bannon.
And Democrats will have nothing credible to say about that. Unless they were against President Biden's pardon of his son. So for example, I will be able to credibility criticize President Trump's corrupt pardons, as well as rest of The New Democrat. But any Democrat or Republican, or former Republican, who defended President Biden on this, will not be able to do that credibility. Because Donald Trump will be able to say: "Hey, if Joe Biden can pardon his son, how come I can't pardon my political allies?"
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