Below is my column in Fox.com on President Joe Biden’s pardoning of his son Hunter of not just his convicted crimes but any crimes that he may have chosen to commit. President Biden has set a standard that is not merely a new low but positively subterraneous for future presidents.
Here is the column:
President Joe Biden’s decision to use his presidential powers to pardon his own son will be a decision that lives in infamy in presidential politics. It is not just that the President used his constitutional powers to benefit his family. It is because the action culminates years of lying to the public about his knowledge and intentions in the influence-peddling scandal surrounding his family. Even among past scandals in the abuse of the pardon power, Biden has done lasting damage not just to his legacy but his office.
Despite its noble origins and purpose, the pardon power historically has not been a pristine power used by past presidents. As I have previously written, it was used to benefit the political cronies of past presidents. President Warren Harding was even accused of selling pardons, including to mob enforcer Ignacio Lupo, known as “Lupo the Wolf.” Former president William Clinton waited for the final days of his presidency to pardon his own brother as well as a major democratic donor.
In 2023, I wrote that Biden might follow this same pattern and pardon his son as a lame-duck president. The column suggested that Biden might withdraw as a candidate for office and then take the action as a father: “The pardon-and-apology approach might appeal to Biden not only as an effort to convert vice into virtue but to justify his withdrawal from the election as a selfless act.”
In the 2020 election and throughout his presidential term, Biden repeatedly lied to the American public with an ease and impunity that shocked even many political veterans in Washington. He was repeatedly asked if he knew about Hunter’s foreign dealings, including millions in alleged deals with Russians, Ukrainians, Chinese, and other clients. President Biden lied and denied such knowledge. As I detailed in my testimony in the Biden impeachment hearing, he had repeated discussions of these dealings. He is even on tape discussing news stories on the dealings.
President Biden was also repeatedly asked if he met any of his son’s clients. He repeatedly lied. We have pictures and records of dinners and meetings with these clients. Hunter Biden was expressly thanked for his arranging such access to his father.
Few reporters pressed Biden on the corruption scandal, but they were often met not only with denials but angry retorts from the president. When Fox reporter Peter Doocy raised it, the President steamed “Yes, yes, yes. God love you, man — you’re a one-horse pony, I tell you.”
When CBS’s Bo Erickson broke ranks and raised the scandal and drew a rebuke from Biden “I know you’d ask it. I have no response, it’s another smear campaign, right up your alley, those are the questions you always ask.”
The President continued to lie throughout the election, the presidential debates, and his term.
Then, the press repeatedly asked him whether he would pardon his son. The President was now running for reelection and again lied. He and the White House said over and over again that no such pardon would occur and was not being contemplated. That was also a lie. NBC is reporting that, while issuing these denials last June, there were discussions about the pardon.
The pardon power was written in absolute terms, and a president can even, in my view, pardon himself. However, what is constitutional is not necessarily ethical or right. This is one of the most disgraceful pardons even in the checkered history of presidential pardons. President Biden has lied to cover up a corruption scandal that reportedly brought his family millions in raw influence peddling. His portrayal of his son as a victim stands in sharp contrast to the sense of immunity and power conveyed by Hunter in his dealings.
There were diamonds as gifts, lavish expense accounts, and a sports car, in addition to massive payments that Hunter claimed were “loans.” There are messages where Hunter belies the President’s portrayal of a political witch hunt, including messages like the one to a Chinese businessman openly threatening the displeasure of Joe Biden if money is not sent to them immediately. In the WhatsApp message, Hunter stated:
“I am sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the Chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.”
The President has now pardoned Hunter for his convicted felonies and any crimes he may have committed from “Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.”
It is all now being buried under a sweeping immunity deal and a pack of presidential lies.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
Kash Patel, today, now!
This may not be Biden’s last pardon of Hunter. Now that he can’t be prosecuted for any of his activities, Republicans are planning to call him as a witness and force him to testify. Of course, he won’t do so truthfully, so he’ll need a pardon for all the perjuries he commits. Of course, the Republicans could just wait till after Joe has left office.
I sort of like the Hunter pardon. Reasons.
There are still some scofflaws out there. Joe’s brother, Jim, who was a big-time partner in Hunter’s illegal shenanigans. Possibly, Jill, who was a beneficiary of Hunter’s crimes. Also, Joe’s other child, Ashley, a beneficiary if not participant.
So, imagine a world in which the DOJ decides to prosecute some of those people. Hunter cannot effectively plead the 5th amendment right against self-incrimination, because he cannot be prosecuted for any federal crime committed between 1/1/2014 and 12/1/2024. But he can be prosecuted for crimes committed after that date.
So, he pleads the 5th and the Judge says, “Mr. Biden, you don’t have an effective 5th amendment right, because you cannot be prosecuted.” A failure to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth would be a crime. The judge also could order Hunter jailed for contempt of court – “You either testify to what you know and what you did, or you go to jail for not doing so. You would not be going for what you did during that almost-11 year period covered by the pardon, but for failing to speak up in the trial of your mother / sister / uncle / whomever.”
And, of course, Joe said that Hunter has been so brave and is 5-1/2 years’ clean. I hope there’s a DEA agent assigned to monitor Hunter’s drug purchases, because the claim that he is clean is patently false or, to be nice, misinformed. But then Joe also called Hunter the “smartest guy I know.” Joe is very proud of Hunter.
Also, prosecute Joe. Why would you prosecute Joe, since Robert Hur said Joe was an elderly man with a poor memory? To bankrupt Joe, that’s why. Lawyers are expensive. Hur’s decision to decline prosecution does not bind a future prosecutor. Call Hunter as a witness – again, a witness with, at best, dubious ability to claim a 5th amendment right.
Also, prosecute Joe. Why would you prosecute Joe, since Robert Hur said Joe was an elderly man with a poor memory?
DETERRENCE! On top of magnanimously reaching across the isle to provide bipartisan Democrat Nobody Is Above The Law™ to Democrat presidents and politicians, if you want the law obeyed by Democrat politicians and bureaucrats, violations of criminal law have to be predictably prosecuted and meaningful legal sanctions levied.
You would strip both citizen Bribery Biden and citizen Bolshevik Barack of their Executive Privilege as President Biden did citizen Trump to investigate and prosecute any crimes found to have been committed by them.
And crimes committed by the unelected bureaucrats who called them “boss” as well as Mr. President: Comey, McCabe, Wray, Schiff, Clinton, Mueller, Yates, Lynch, Brennan, Clapper et al.
And between The Bagman Crackhead Kid, Bribery Biden, and Bolshevik Barack, there’s 16 years of corporate Democrat crime knowledge.
Between the three of them, they know where all the Democrat political criminal skeletons are buried. And they know where all the unelected Democrat bureaucrat criminal skeletons are buried.
But it is a fantasy to actually believe either Trump or the GOP controlled House or Senate will do any of that, sadly.
The Liar-in-Chief has now established a precedent for political crime families.
Biden has set a standard that the Corleone’s would envy.
What is to stop the open bribery scheme of all presidential administration’s moving forward?
Everybody is waiting for the Biden-Harris Administration tell-all books to hit the market.
Yet, this most corrupt President has a story only Mario Puzo could put to paper.
Somebody get Francis Ford Coppola on the line.
The Biden Crime family is the worst thing to happen to America since Nixon.
I still think Pelosi is worse. Her family has done all the same things, but also conducted two sham impeachments based on hearsay and fabrications. That helped further divide America instead of trying to bring Americans of all political orientations back together after Clinton’s fake ‘Trump-is-a-Russian-Asset’ dossier failed.
Nixon has looked like a piker when it comes to transgressions in the White House since Bill Clinton moved in with that Clinton bestie, Harvie Weinstein being the Pervert In Residence.
Nixon was never accused of anything like first commissioning an illegal “Dossier” to be written by a Russian spy. And then telling his Attorney Generals and FBI Directors to take it to courts and perjure themselves repeatedly to get illegal spy warrants to criminalize political opponents.
This pardon interests Trump….So many options to choose
Trump could pardon David DePape who attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer.
Just to suggest this shows how sick you are.
Your cult leader loves you, for all the love you show him. Quit showing him love and he will disown you.
How do you feel now?
Does this preclude calling Hunter in pursuit or prosecution of other crimes?
While President Biden can issue a blanket pardon for Hunter, possibly for his brother, for others in the Biden family, and possibly himself to prevent convictions and jail time for offenses committed or possibly committed, he can not prevent investigative journalists from ferreting out and reporting possible crimes against the United States by the Biden crime family. The verdict from the jury of the American public will prove to be the Biden legacy.
I have heard rumors that the EPA is considering naming “Investigative Journalists” an endangered specie. There are is a haven for them at The Free Press and there are some feral ones such as Rufo, Taibbi, Schellenberger but their numbers are, sadly, very small.
In the past two years, how many times did Democrats, including trolls on this site, repeat the refrain: “No one is above the Law”?
Receiving a pardon is not a violation of the maxim “No one is above the law.” If it were then no pardon every given would be justified, and the founders should be harshly criticized for placing this power in the hands of whoever happens to occupy the White House. This all would also be true for pardons issued by state governors. So, edwardmahl, are you suggesting that all pardons were violations of “No one is above the law” and that all pardon power should be stripped from the presidency and the governors?
Bull****! You’re playing childish strawman games because he’s CLEARLY TALKING ABOUT THE HYPOCRISY WE ALL SEE. Hunter Biden was guilty as hell. Proof of his prosecution was trotted out to show that the lawfare against Trump was not partisan. That Biden was above such petty things as interfering with justice. That Biden (who is a chronic scumbag) was, truely, a President for the ages and model of ‘what a moral President should be…’
Yet, here we are, with Don Biden pardoning his son and claiming the prosecution was political (despite the opposite as the DoJ did their best to stonewall, hide and minimize everything Hunter did). The truth is that, at 63, I’ve seen Biden’s racism, criminality and all the rest for DECADES. I knew he’d do this. Hell, I think anyone with a room-temperature IQ, or higher, knew Biden would pardon Hunter once the election was over.
It was just a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if.’ And now all the trolls and Democrats who said all those positive things about the DoJ, Democrats and BIden need to eat that crap-sandwich they made themselves instead of strawmanning arguments with idiotic platitudes.
Democrats never cared about the law, it was just another tool in the box to use against their opponents.
Another example of Biden saving democracy.
Will he have to issue similar pardons for everyone who touched the proceeds of the Biden family scams? That would include himself as well as some kids.
Anyone want to pay for his library? Maybe it could include a cash flow chart of the various family members and their 22 shell corporations laundering foreign money. He’s secured his place in history as the worst president ever.
“The President has now pardoned Hunter for his convicted felonies and any crimes he may have committed from “Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.”
US president does not have the power to pardon people not yet indicted for a crime.
The Constitution, Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, grants the President the power to “grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” This language suggests that pardons are only applicable to individuals who have been convicted or charged with a federal offense, not to those who have not yet been accused or indicted. Believe SCOTUS decisions reinforce this.
I need Professor Turley to explain the ‘blanket’ element of pardon protection.
How can one be pardoned for a crime they weren’t charged or convicted of?
This seems like a legal question the Supreme Court most resolve.
I believe you are incorrect. The pardon power is generally considered to be essentially plenary, and there are many historical examples of pre-charge pardons.
Prof Turley seems to agree with you .. . but I’m not so sure.
“The President has now pardoned Hunter for his convicted felonies and any crimes he may have committed from “Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.””
*perhaps, if Biden resigned in disgrace (sic), like Nixon, pre-crime pardons would be more understandable.
Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit !
Touché my Friend.
I used to think Ponzi Schemes of 50 million $$$ were the best way to rip people off but Joe’s scheme of politically taking bribes to see the country is a lot better.
I can’t say I’m dsappointed. A person disappoints you when he fails to live up to your expectations for him. But by now, my expectations of Joe Biden are so low, it is impossible for him not to live up to them. My fondest hope for him is that he has enough of his mental faculties left to fully appreciate the disdain for him and contempt in which he is held. He is human pornography, utterly without redeeming social value.
I can find only one other such blanket pardon of crimes not yet uncovered or charged. Ford’s pardon of Nixon, which did not have a time frame like Hunter’s does. This is unprecedented.
If it’s any consolation .. . “After Ford left the White House in 1977, he privately justified his pardon of Nixon by carrying in his wallet a portion of the text of Burdick v. United States, a 1915 U.S. Supreme Court case where the dictum stated that a pardon carries an imputation of guilt and that its acceptance carries a confession of guilt.[4][5]”
@dgsnowden
“Burdick v. United States, a 1915 U.S. Supreme Court case where the dictum stated that a pardon carries an imputation of guilt and that its acceptance carries a confession of guilt.”
So, by that logic, since the pardon covers unspecified crimes within a specified date range, Hunter Biden is presumed to have pleaded guilty to any crime that he is accused of that fell within that period, regardless of whether any evidence exists, or any circumstances suggest, that such a crime even took place, let alone was perpetrated by him? I think I might like that. I’m assuming that another implication is that, since the pardon is considered to be an admission of guilt, the assumed guilty party would have no legal recourse for false accusations? Apparently Biden cannot be formally punished for his crimes, but that seems like a promising way to make damned sure his life, and the lives of all of his Biden crime family members, are completely ruined, forever. Somebody needs to get some idle prosecutors to work on this, tout de suite…
The “10% for the big guy” was never settled. That’s the link to Joe Biden.
I still would like this reopened.
Every minute of Biden’s political life that involves the White House is unprecedented and soaked in criminality.
If you want to start somewhere, start with over 170 Suspicious Activity Reports filed by banks with President Obama concerning his Vice President accepting bribes, selling access to the White House and US policy, money laundering, etc.
Liar in Chief? Interesting it goes back a decade? Ukraine and Hunter/Bidens go back to then? Who will receive the pardon Next, Jim? Nices? Biden Family? and will Joe pardon himself? It all smells? Lets see if Media and DEMS back these Pardons? most likely they will try to bury bit Social Media has more influence than MSM and this story will not go away. Washington Elite protecting themselves but do you do it?
Turley– “the action culminates years of lying to the public about his knowledge and intentions”
+++
And there is the distilled essence of the Biden Family Mob.
Of course he lied.
What did you expect?
Perfume from a skunk?
Now do the administrative state, the media and the Democrats in general.
I’m not surprised by this nor am I that outraged. I expected this to happen. My problem is the self-righteous way that they claimed the moral, and legal, high ground, while at the same time, using the DOJ to attack their political enemies. I’m also not sure that Biden did any great favors for Hunter. Jailing Hunter was never really a high priority. It was always about using Hunter to expose the rank corruption of the Biden family, and to tie Joe to it. Now, the House can use Hunter’s testimony to tie the entire Biden family to the family corruption business. And if he refuses to testify, or perjurers himself in any way, that’s it, he goes to jail. Just like Bannon.
I’m wondering if Pam Bondi and Kash Patel are already planning how to find a way to hold all these steaming piles accountable. Remember that they got Al Capone simply for tax evasion. Just put the hurt on each and every enabler to this trail of corruption.
I knew JT would jump on this.. Yep, Biden lied and gave the pardon to his son.
How many thousands of lies has trump told? And how many times has JT talked about those lies? Pretty rare.
How’s that Biden impeachment going JT? You said any day now, times running out.
What are all of these “thousands of lies” that he’s told? You mean like, I have $8bil and I might only have $6bil? I had 30k at my rally and it turned out to be about 18K? I am the greatest president of all time? Or, I have no knowledge of my son’s business dealings…oh wait, that wasn’t Trump or Hunter’s laptop was Russian disinformation…oh wait, that wasn’t Trump or if you like your doctor, you can keep him…oh wait, that wasn’t Trump either, or you should inject bleach into yourself to cure Covid…oh wait, Trump never said that either.
Trying to convince cult followers that their leader has lied to them is a fools errand. If you want to figure it out, there are lots of places to see the lies trump has told.
Here is the interesting thing. What kind of father would not pardon his son given the chance? trump pardoned his daughters father in law. trump pardoned Bannon for his multi million dollar fraud about the border wall. If Biden did not pardon his son I am sure, no doubt, that the trump cultists would then say how callous Biden is that he didn’t even pardon his own son.
How’s that Biden impeachment going? Any day now? Right? right? I don’t hear you? Are you there?
Trying to convince a moron of the difference between an opinion and a lie, is also a fool errand. Biden’s “impeachment” is going very well, thank you. The Left has now lost the SC, the House, Senate, and the WH. You might want to pick up a newspaper…
“Here is the interesting thing. What kind of father would not pardon his son given the chance? trump pardoned his daughters father”
Is that you Dennis?
Commies just gotta commie! Because there’s no context or nuance allowed or recognized in the Democrat Commie Whataboutism Borg.
Trump’s pardon of his daughter’s father in law whose crimes and prison sentence were done BEFORE he entered the Oval Office is exactly the same as Biden pardoning his son who collected the bribes and tickets to the White House and lined all the Biden’s pockets while Biden was running the Biden crime cartel from his office in the White House.
This is why commies just drop their hypocritical Whataboutism lies and then flee to hide in the same hole with Dennis McIntyre.
Yep, its a cult.
“How many thousands of lies has trump told?”
If cowardly Anonymous commies aren’t lying and distracting and deflecting, they aren’t really trying. Including the Bull Schiff posting that you’re supposedly concerned about presidential liars after voting for Biden and Obama twice.
Any of you cowardly Anonymous liars want to give us the link to who you claim are the scorekeepers of each president’s lies? So we can compare Trump’s lies to Obama and Biden’s lies. Your source tracks their lies as well, correct?
Just by numbers, it looks like Bolshevik Barack and Bribery Biden are leading Trump 10-1 and 100-1 respectively. And in Commie World, a Trump exaggeration is considered a lie.
Clearly and obviously when it comes to material lies concerning their presidencies, Trump is a naive rookie compared to Bolshevik Barack and Bribery Biden.
So you cowardly Democrat Marxists Useful Idiots don’t actually care in the slightest about presidents who lie. Didn’t care when it was Clinton, didn’t care when it was Obama, and now you don’t care when it’s Biden.
What Trump lie while in office comes close to the magnitude of:
“If you like your health care plan and you like your doctor, you can keep them under my Obamacare!”
“I had absolutely no idea my Secretary of State Clinton was using illegal and unsecured cellphones and private mail servers during her entire four years that allowed five adversarial nations to read the classified national security material we were exchanging.”
“I had absolutely no input nor any knowledge of the FBI investigation of either my Secretary of State Clinton nor of presidential candidate Donald Trump.”
… “Former president William Clinton waited for the final days of his presidency to pardon his own brother as well as a major democratic donor.”…
Will Biden pardon his Brother and Family as well? Including the First Lady Jill for running a Chinese Mortgage Laundry? Will the Secrets be buried in the sands of the Rehoboth Beach House forever?
What will the National Archive lock away forever this time?
‘Infamous Infamy’ indeed!!!
Nasty and duplicitous to the very end, he protects his “family flank” by pardoning himself, indirectly. The Dems would be wise to shed themselves completely of Biden, and start the next election season clean.
Democrats are incapable of starting anything “clean.” Deceit, corruption and duplicity are welded into their DNA: just ask RFK, Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard.