The pardon power is one of the more sweeping powers granted to the president by the Constitution, and on Monday, two presidents demonstrated why it remains among the most controversial.
We will deal with President Trump’s January 6 pardons in a separate editorial. As for Joe Biden’s last-minute pardons, they did not reek any less for being utterly predictable.
The former president set the works in motion last month with the shameful pardon of his son. Hunter Biden had been the point man in the decades-long Biden family business of selling access to his father and his political influence to agents of corrupt and anti-American foreign regimes, including the Chinese Communist Party. He had been found guilty on federal firearms charges (by a jury) and tax charges (on a guilty plea), and was facing the likelihood of a significant prison sentence. This was only after the Biden Justice Department labored mightily to make the criminal investigations of the younger Biden disappear.
Although the former president and his White House staff indignantly insisted that Hunter would not be pardoned, Hunter’s litigation strategy — admit nothing, resist normal plea negotiations — made sense only if he knew all along he was going to be pardoned. And, of course, he was, right before sentencing proceedings that would have branded him a convicted felon were set to commence.
Still, while the pardon solved Hunter’s criminal-liability problem, it created a separate vulnerability: The immunity from prosecution extinguished Hunter’s Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. As a result, Hunter could be forced to testify against other participants if an enterprising prosecutor in the incoming Trump Justice Department decided to probe the Biden family scheme — which a House investigation found generated an astonishing $27 million, transferred through intermediaries into bank accounts of various Biden family members.
This is why our own Andy McCarthy has so consistently warned that the logic of Hunter’s pardon dictated that there would be additional corrupt pardons — the kind a president makes only when walking out the Oval Office door for the last time, no longer concerned about appearances and political accountability.
Sure enough, in the last minutes before heading off to Donald Trump’s inauguration, Biden pardoned his siblings: brothers Jim (Hunter’s chief partner in the family biz) and Francis, and sister Valerie, along with Jim’s and Valerie’s spouses. Without a hint of irony, the former president, whose Justice Department hounded Trump for four years, claimed he was acting to protect his kin from partisan weaponization of the Justice Department.
Realizing how the Hunter pardon tainted his legacy, Biden transparently attempted to minimize its significance with a mountain of clemency grants. These included disgraceful commutations of 37 death row inmates (while leaving in place the three capital cases brought and defended by the Obama and Biden administrations), and thousands of sentencing reductions that are another abuse of the pardon power.
And then there are the preemptive pardons of public officials. Biden granted clemency to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who drove controversial Covid policy and potentially obfuscated the pandemic’s origin; retired Army General Mark Milley, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who crossed swords with Trump following the Capitol riot; and the members and staff of the House January 6 Committee, which was deeply hostile to Trump and issued a scathing report recommending that he be charged with felonies (which the Biden DOJ special counsel proceeded to do).
There was no need for such pardons. No matter what one thinks of these officials, their actions in carrying out their official duties are immune from prosecution. But knowing he was going to pardon other family members just as he pardoned Hunter, Biden must have calculated that granting clemency to public officials would help pretty up his other self-serving pardons.
History will not be kind to Joe Biden — not to his family’s monetization of the power of his offices of public trust, and not to his historic abuse of the pardon power.
Reprinted with permission from the National Review.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
I used to refer to them as “demonicrats” as a joke, but it’s no longer funny. Biden is pure evil, and yet good friends of mine still support him for no apparent logical reason. Pardoning the murderer of millions?? An openly traitorous general?? The Jan 6 committee??? A Republican traitor? Peddo-Joes vile intent has been obvious for decades but these absurd pardons can have none other than Satanic intent. Something must be done about this get out of jail free nonsense. The Lord of Darkness is always in the wings and his influence is screamingly obvious.
This is a joke! Joe Biden was NEVER President of the United States.
what a corrupt sob ihope trump shuts down all those bio labs and funding so we dont have another covid
Democrats are despicable. Does anything reek of criminal conduct more than a preemptive pardon?? They should still investigate and expose the criminal behavior of these individuals so that the American public knows the facts.
Power Corrupts; Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely,
Goodbye Stupid Joe so glad you are gone, now go rot some place and get ready to rot in Hell for the damage you have done too America!
I have no pity for people who hate America!
God Bless America!
Biden was a crooked politician and that was very apparent long before he was elected president (or did you think his son getting millions from a Ukrainian oligarch was based on Hunter’s merits)? . The real question is why after plagiarizing, womanizing, and years of influence peddling, did anyone even consider Biden presidential material? What in Biden’s long history, of feathering his own nest in the senate, would have ever given anyone the idea that he could manage, even a small business, let alone the massive operations of the world’s only superpower? Obviously that was a very costly and embarrassing mistake. Let’s not repeat that error.
Joe Biden called these people dedicated public servants. Who exactly were they dedicated to ?
It seems to.me that they were only dedicated to themselves and their politics. Not exactly what I would consider public deviants. The recipients of these pardons are just as despicable as the person who issues them.
A dark day in American history.
Biden pardoned people who had not been convicted of any crimes. He pardoned them for the crimes he knew they committed for him on his instructions. Trump pardoning the Jan 6 pardoned people who had already been convicted and or served their time. For a nonexistent crime. If they staged a coup they did it badly with no guns sticks or chemical weapons. The only ones that committed a crime were the dems setting the plan in motion. They worked on emotions of the people and all they wanted was to be heard and state their grievances. The dems knew this was easy to do for they had worked this gaslighting plan from 2015-2020 on Trump and his supporters. It was easy to set up the plan at the capitol. Nobody reacted they all sat on their hands and rehearsing their drama after it was all done. A United front. MSM used the same wording like they were actors who had just gotten a script. From the beginning it was called a coup, the end of democracy, and Trump and his supporters called domestic terrorists and put on the FBI most wanted list. That was one way for Biden to be a dictator. Well Obama and Pelosi and Schumer and the billionaires that were propping them up to keep at it, were also involved. Finally we are done with the communist regime who tried to destroy half of the American population and the country with it. Biden the most incompetent president is gone but his minions are still around and believe you me they have many plans and plots in place to obstruct, undermine and even Eliminate Trump. For the dems the only good American is a dem American. They forget the people voted them out. But they don’t care about that. Their power is what they lost and they don’t take losing laying down. Billionaires can buy a lot of people. Only they couldn’t buy Trump. Like he said, “I don’t need the money. I love this country and I want it be great”.
Clueless Joe had plenty of clues when it came to deviancy and most damage causing decisions. Wile crafty old crook.
Non of Joe Biden’s acts of pardoning z hs degenerate criminal son and the members of his crime family are a surprise. The rest of his pardons and sentence are just smoke screen for his other acts. He cares not that the families of the victims of those he pardoned are having their lives turned upside down (again).Biden is a evil verdictive man.
He has no morals, no conscience no soul ( he sold that to Satan long ago. One can take solace in the fact that at his advanced age and the rate of mental deterioration he will not be able to enjoy the fruits of his evil money grifting schemes, his family will forever be tainted and shunned from society as the grifters they are. And when Joe is called to account for his evildoing before Almighty God he will be judged for what he has done, the lies, the theft, the cowardice , the corruption, the perversion (Showers wit his daughter) all will be laid out and he wil have to pay the price and that price is for eternity.
History — Biden. who??????
If anything needed to be repealed, it’s that get out of jail card.
At least the Brandon error is finally over!
Been corrupt since 1-20-21+
Do we all remember Trump’s oft-repeated poem “The Snake?” It describes Crooked Joe
well! We ALL knew he was corrupt from the outset so these crooked pardons for his corrupt cartel and family are no surprise at all!
I am so looking forward to celebrating that sob’s death. I hope it is slow and very painful!
i
David Horowitz produced a small monograph entitled Beijing Biden. Read it and you may call Joseph Biden a Traitor.
Trumps problem (and mine) with Milley was that he committed a treasonous act; by telling China ‘he would warn them if Trump (during his 1st term) was going to ‘do anything’.
That’s Treason!
Morbidly Despicable Pardons!
The icing on the cake for the most corrupt, criminal, treasonous administration in this nation’s history.
Joe pardoned his criminal family and associates before he oozed out of office.
Joe Biden is not the president of the United States of America Obama is therefore Obama America is over.
It was the preemptive pardons that totally pissed me off!! It’s not an admission of guilt but it is since you, Joe, don’t even want these people investigated!! And that makes me think that you and they have something to hide and are guilty of!!! I’m completely disgusted and disappointed in Democrats because of their deviate behavior and pushing/mandating it on everyone else!!
Hey, remember when Biden and Adam Schiff said pardons were “for the guilty”? Guess they don’t either. Too bad Trump released the more violent J6 rioters… all he did was give them the old “but Truuummmp…” all over again! While CNN goes on and on about “Trump empowering violence” they forget how Biden not only pardoned his family but about 6X more then every POTUS since Ford!
Biden and most of his staff need to spend several years in jail. I will call my elected representatives tomorrow and demand that Biden and his staff be arrested and put on trial for treason. May I suggest that everyone should call their Reps – Democrat/Republicans and demand they be held accountable for treason.
I’m sorry. But this tells me we, Biden and company, are all guilty. It would still be good to do investigation to know really happened.
You have to be complicit to do this. Criminal.
Everyone knows JoeBama was just Obama’s puppet, instructed to sign whatever they put in front of him. He has also been one of the most corrupt grifters in Washington DC for the past 56 years. All of his preemptive pardons are a direct acknowledgement of their guilt. The only good thing about the pardons is that the truth must now be told, every one of those pardoned must now tell the whole truth to Congress, no fifth amendment protection. If they lie again, they can be charged with lying to Congress – a new felony the pardon does not cover. If they fail to show for a hearing, another new felony.
He is lower than the most depraved people on earth!! He is obviously trying to pardon everyone who was involved in his administration to stop from being investigated himself! His family is the most corrupt ever. They run circles around the Clintons and the O’Bamas as far as breaking our laws and NOT getting punished. Jonathan Turley wrote a book about it and I cannot wait to read it.
If we can prove that the DemonKKKrats rigged the election and Biden was NOT legally elected than his pardons and commutations would be nullified. Then all these criminals could be prosecuted!! Why don’t we work on that instead of complaining?
If Biden the pardons of his family doesn’t signal that they are guilty of anything then why didn’t he pardon himself? Are they all guilty and he’s not? And is he an unpardoned candidate for investigation and jail? He is a traitor.
We should all know that George Soros has controlled everything way back when Slick Willie was in office. Him and his right hand man Killary. Then came Obummer under Soros control with O Biden in the wings. We the people were able to surprise them with a pro USA president but they didn’t let that happen till we pushed hard enough to get some one that cares for the Country. Thank GOD we got him in again.
It’s too bad that Al Capone isn’t alive,he could learn a lot from the biden/soros/demo.crime family.
vigilante justice is the only way these criminals will ever taste justice, let’s hope there is justice for them.
Too bad Trump can’t do anything about Biden’s pardons. Can the Supreme Court nulify the pardon’s?
A steady stream of cash to a sitting POTUS from any foreign adversary is a disqualifying event. Biden should have been impeached and kicked to the curb even when he was VP. He’s not the biggest enemy, though… as, our biggest enemy is the ignorance and immaturity of most “democrat” voters.
They all know they committed felonies. The J6 prosecuting politicians DESTROYED all the evidence. THAT is a felony. In addition Cheney met secretly with a witness and prompted her testimony. They should be exposed for their crimes. If not, this type of despicable behavior will continue.
Biden’s most overlooked BS pardon was that of cold blooded cop killer Leonard Peilter who point blank assassinated two FBI Agents on an Indian Reservation in the 1970s.
Interesting. I don’t think he can pardon himself, at least i hope not. That means they can still go after brandon and make his son testify since he can no longer take the fifth. This could get interesting.
The pardons by Biden yesterday will only serve to make Trump make his pardons more aggressive & a larger number than Biden!
The use of pardons from POTUS is getting to be a big joke & Congress needs to address this problem. Later yesterday, Trump said that he can pardon himself if he wants someday. Most of these pardons condone breaking some kind of law & we should expect our POTUS to uphold the rules of America & not ignore them as they see fit.. Giving anyone the right to pardon themselves makes zero sense to me!
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trump just pardoned 1500 violent white supremacists who tried to take over the capitol to stop the electoral vote counting