What do you think of President Biden's pardoning of his son Hunter?

It was a white collar crime. I was disappointed in Biden when he first said he wouldn’t pardon his son and was hoping that he actually would. So I’m very happy with his decision.

It reminds me of President George Bush senior, saying. “Read my lips no new taxes”. Then raising taxes. Then saying that he’s got the blame.

President Biden is human. I would have pardoned my family member too.

Also to be fair I would pardon everyone else with similar convictions.

I’m good with this decision.

i’m not surprised. A lot of people were saying he should pardon him, even though he said he wasn’t going to. I’m ok with it. I don’t blame him.

For those that might not like it, it’s nothing new. Trump did it, other Presidents did it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump pardons the J6 prisoners. I wouldn’t be happy but I wouldn’t be surprised.

His son is a vile piece of shit; so is Biden. This of course sets grotesque presidents and will be pointed to by people in the future for justifying their kids’ crimes while in office. Every time I hear the name Hunter Biden, I think of all of the working Americans who weren’t able to escape the cycle of debt that bankruptcy was designed to help them restart their lives, and Biden’s bill stole that from them so Hunter could get his checks. It’s shit like this that causes the Democrats to lose.

^^ precedents?

I give zero fucks.

@Jeruba It sets grotesque Presidents also. I retract my prior zero fucks given statement and I agree it is a bad precedent. Not that Trump would have had any qualms about liberally using the pardon, but now he can say, “Joe did it, I can too.”

@Jeruba Autocorrect and sloppy grammar. I appreciate the correction and regret the error.

It was always an excessive political persecution, but with what he MAGA maniacs have been threatening, it makes even more sense to pardon him.

Well, it still beats pardoning and then planning to put a convicted felon family member in a prestigious ambassadorial position.

Hunter is his one remaining living child. I have no problem with it.

This was foreseen long ago. When Hunter was actually forced into court, the right said that it didn’t matter and that Biden would pardon him before leaving office. At that point Biden was still saying he would not pardon him and the lefty parrots all told us on the right we were just haters.

But this event and the answers here bring up an interesting thought: if it were Trump pardoning one of his children that committed a felony, would you all still be saying it was a good thing?

I suspected it would occur. Not a positive note after he said he would not pardon him. In reality it was not as shocking as some past Presidents.

Here is the list from Trump

The whole Hunter persecution was payback for Trump’s impeachments, and there was never anything substantive behind it. It was an invented controversy.

The fact that @seawulf575 weighed in with his disapproval means that Biden’s actions were correct.

@seawulf575 “ But this event and the answers here bring up an interesting thought: if it were Trump pardoning one of his children that committed a felony, would you all still be saying it was a good thing?”

So why not ask your own question instead of trying to hijack @Jeruba’s?

I’m happy Biden will now have his only living child with him in his late life. The man has suffered tremendous loss throughout his life. I’m also happy MAGA and anyone else who doesn’t like Biden is flipping out right now. I love a good F You.

Rank has its privileges. And high rank has it’s extra privileges.

Can’t really add more than what @gorillapaws already said. Two horrible humans.

It’s a power Presidents shouldn’t have as it essentially makes a mockery of the principle of the rule of law, not that that really exists outside of fanciful delusional rhetoric anyway.

@seawulf575 The only “radical lefties” in the thread are opposed to the pardon and the Bidens.

This was a political prosecution.
Biden knew Trump could create a hellstorm, and decided to take the hit that he broke a promise.

I wonder if Biden will now resign the presidency. By doing so, Kamala becomes Prez for a month, and we can stop saying America has never had a woman president.

@Kropotkin And I don’t even consider myself a “radical lefty.” I’m a bit to the left of center. There are plenty of positions much further to the left of me.

Wrong legacy to leave. Biden acting as a father not an ideal US President for these presently dangerous political era.

Who cares. Biden is one of the worst people alive. His legacy is being on the wrong side of everything consequential, helping destroy a generation through the racist crime bill, and topping it off with a genocide. Pardoning his son? It’s the stuff of tabloids and doesn’t matter.

Jill probably pushed for it, because from the debate performance, Biden doesn’t have much upstairs at this point.

Actually, this pardon is a worse travesty of justice than has previously been discussed. It didn’t just pardon him for the gun charge or the tax issues. It pardoned him for any and all crimes he may have committed, whether he has been prosecuted or not, whether charged or not, from 1/1/14 through 12/½4. That encompasses all the time he was selling influence to his father, all the corruption in Ukraine and China, money laundering…everything. Nothing like a blanket pardon that covers your own ass as well as your son’s.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hunter-biden-pardon-joe-biden-statement/

I think it’s great. It’s time the Democrats quit bringing a butter knife to a gun fight. We all know Trump will pardon many worse people.

I think if pardons are going to be a thing, you can’t really get mad about who gets pardoned. You either allow them all or none of them. But my opinion on this one specifically is that it sure is a good time to be a presidential failson. :P

I think Biden was right first time. He should have let justice take its course and not interfered. It sets a terrible precedent when those close to the president and the centre of power feel they can act with impunity. America needs someone at the very highest level of government right now who can act with integrity.

For those of you who are saying that Biden should have pardoned his son because Trump will do the same thing is just making the point on how bad the move is.

Yep, I’m starting to think that we should all embrace this behavior by a sitting president. I think that Trump ought to grant unconditional pardons to anyone that was ever named as a co-defendant with him on any trial as he exits office. Imagine that…any case they are holding onto in and effort to continue lawfare against him would basically be moot since none of the defendants could ever be tried for the cases, nor would they have to testify. This is, after all, the sort of behavior you are accepting from Biden.

@Caravanfan if that’s what you took from my comment, you are incorrect. My reasoning isn’t “because Trump will do the same.” My reasoning is that Biden needs his child in his life right now. I am the caretaker of my elderly father. I understand the importance of family at this time.

@Forever_Free, Trump’s list sure offers a context. Given all the personal advantages Trump’s family has shamelessly claimed, primarily financial, I can accept this pardon, even though the broken promise does bother me.

@seawulf575, I asked the question I meant to ask. Thank you for answering it. I also expect answers voiced in a civil tone.

I do agree on principle that the POTUS shouldn’t generally give out pardons without just reasons, and that it would probably be better as a precedent for Biden to nobly refrain from pardoning Hunter.

But I also believe Hunter deserves to be pardoned, because I feel it is clear that if he weren’t being targeted for political reasons, his case would likely have never even become a case, and if it were, it wouldn’t have been handled nearly as severely.

Unlike the cases @seawulf575 is referring to, which are actual serious crimes and not “lawfare” as he put it.

I’m fine with it. From what I understand anyone else who had done the same would not have been prosecuted like Hunter was, but even without that I’m ok with it.

I assume he paid the taxes he owes, if he hasn’t, I 100% feel he should have to pay all of the taxes he owes, he shouldn’t bet let out of that.

I heard this morning that Trump is saying that if Biden is pardoned he will pardon the J6ers. To that I say laugh my ass off roll on the floor. What is that some sort of tit for tat threat? Nah, it’s just Trump doing his usual play to his MAGA extremists. Trump has been talking about pardoning J6ers for years. It’s not some sort of new idea because Biden pardons his son. How lucky for Republicans Biden is going to appear like he did it first.

If you can believe it, I think Trump would even consider pardoning Biden, not that I would trust leaving it up to him.

I think Trump should pardon Tiger King too lol.

Another way for Joe to disappoint, on the way out…

It’s likely that if Biden hadn’t done such things before for Hunter, he may not have grown up to be such a loser.

I believe Hunter, belongs in prison.
Of course there are countless political factors involved, and that includes the election itself.
All I care about, is Biden said he wouldn’t, but did.
That makes Joe a liar.
I know that doesn’t matter, for some reason anymore, but it should.

I don’t “blame” Joe. Joe did it.

Rather I can empathize with someone’s motivation or not, I don’t overlook what I consider wrong doings.

Interestingly, I didn’t know how MUCH power a POTUS had, until Trump. In him, I finally saw someone who took full advantage of presidential powers, and that apparently the only thing holding former presidents from acting like Trump, was integrity…

This is particularly troubling, because I do not consider ANY past American presidents as having great integrity.

Yes. Biden could have been exponentially worse, like Trump.
But I don’t care for “whataboutism,” when Trump does something wrong.

So. Just based on Joe, what he said, and what he’s done, he lied to the American people.

Ultimately, the pardon won’t matter, unless you’re a deranged conservative.

I agree that it is a power, that no POTUS should ever have.

Since 2016, I have been wondering why, we gave presidents SO much power.
This pardon, won’t help that thinking…

@MrGrimm888 to answer “why have we given presidents so much power?” -

1) gerrymandering
2) politicians playing on gullibility of citizens
3) the Citizens United decision that let corporations buy politicians
4) general apathy among people
5) the christian right who thinks politics is religion

@MrGrimm888 I don’t excuse what Hunter did, but gees, accusing his dad of bing a bad parent seems too far in this case. I think Hunter was a toddler when his mom and sister were killed and Hunter and his brother were badly injured. If I remember correctly Hunter sustained some brain damage, I don’t know the extent of it. The trauma that family has been through is catastrophic. I know they are not the only family in the world to go through horrific tragedy, and certainly not the only family to have a drug addict child even when the parents were overall normal, decent parents.

I wouldn’t want him let off totally scott free. Like I said I expect him to pay the taxes he owes, and if up to me I would at least limit his movement under parole for a few years. He hasn’t been let off scott free no matter what because he has endured going to court knowing it hurt his dad’s reputation with at least some of the country and his dad did not pull strings to prevent the trial. He pled guilty to many counts. He went through rehab and from what we know has stayed sober. As far as I know he didn’t physically hurt anyone.

^I haven’t accused Joe Biden, of anything.
Joe got into trouble with Ukraine, over his Hunter.
Biden shouldn’t have been allowed to run in the first place, in my opinion. As he DID abuse the power of the VP.

Yes. I thought Trump shouldn’t be allowed to run either, but that’s moot.

I don’t think Joe should be punished, for this pardon. I’m fairly certain we won’t hear much about Joe once he leaves, unless Trump goes after him.

I am fully aware, of Biden’s horrific, and unfortunate past family issues. I have always commended him, on being able to recover from such things.

The bottom line is, I would hold politicians to the same standards as I am…

To me, it always seems shady, and always seems to taint the legacy of the outgoing president.

This is only different, because it was such a dem talking point, and now Biden has let down those who defended him, based on the belief Joe intended to keep his word.

I do think that the way it all played out, AND (someone mentioned it) his wife pressured him into it, is why Joe pardoned Hunter. Maybe he was afraid that Hunter’s life was in danger if Trump was running things.
Only Joe knows why he did it.
Regardless, I know he was aware that it would look bad.
It does…

These are only MY opinions, and I am not trying to get anyone to agree with me…

You have people like me, saying that Joe wasn’t going to pardon his own son. Was I wrong, for believing Joe, or should he not have lied?..

@Jeruba I figured you asked the question you meant to ask. But I was getting attacked from other jellies for voicing my view point on that question. I apologize for getting a bit heated, it just gets old. No one actually wants to have a discussion, they just want to attack if you don’t agree with them.

I did just hear an interesting take on this pardon, though. It was a blanket pardon for anything he might have done wrong from 2014–2024. All the stuff his laptop showed that pointed to corruption that benefitted his entire family he is completely protected from. BUT…he can now be called as a witness, under oath, to testify against Joe and the rest of the family and he cannot claim the 5th Amendment. As soon as he accepted the pardon, he lost that coverage. The 5th protects you from incriminating yourself under oath, but the pardon removed all incrimination for activities that happened during the time span covered. And if he refuses to answer or lies under oath he can then be charged for contempt charges or perjury.

Another consideration is that the “pre-crime” pardon has never been challenged though there are views in legal circles that the pardon is not for those.

@jonsblond Fair enough, but let me ask you this. Let’s say Donald Trump Jr. is convicted of a crime and the Great Orange pardons him. Would you feel the same way?

I don’t like it. It was a very Trump-like move, and it gives moral authority to Trump.
Plus, Hunter is not a good man. I’ve read the things he wrote in some of the court evidence, such as his hardball method of dealing with Chinese businessmen. (Which proves he’s not “in bed” with China… but he’s still scum).
Biden basically screwed America to help his son.
We all know Trump is gonna abuse the pardon powers. Trump is gonna pardon people who really deserve to die.
Hunter’s crimes aren’t death penalty material. But Joe Biden’s pardon of him will be used to morally justify Trump’s upcoming evil pardons.
Every single American who tried to overthrow the 2020 election morally deserves to die, and if we had a legitimate culture, our legal system would reflect that and result in that.

@Caravanfan sure, as long as he wasn’t convicted of rape, murder or hate crimes.

@jonsblond What if there were allegations that he had been selling his father’s influence and kicking back millions in bribes back to the family?

@seawulf575 Also Hunter is guilty of 3 felonies with his illegal purchase of a firearm in 2018.

Ah, it’s good to be the king!

@gondwanalon Or at least the son of the king. Or even the king’s jester.

On a normal day, those charges might not have been a HUGE deal for a first time offender. But with all the outrage about gun control that the left screams about on a regular basis, why are there excuses being made when someone willfully lies to obtain a gun?

trump is guilty of 34 felonies.

@chyna 34 felonies for giving hush money to a hooker. HA! Totally bogus.

Oh and I thought you liberals were against “whataboutism”. Bill Clinton did far worse and nothing became of it.

Keep in mind Trump pardoned Kushner and now appointed him ambassador to France.

Aw, geez. An old man, who will never hold office in his life again, forgives his one living troubled child, who did not commit violent crimes, after losing the others to tragedy.

This is not that big of a deal. <eyeroll>

What @canidmajor said, including the eye roll. I’m tired of what ifs.

Hunter isn’t his one living child, he still has a daughter.

Omigod, did you not know what I meant? From the continuing tragedy of his first family.
Again, <eyeroll>

But you’re right, of course, the fact that the child from his second marriage is living makes this all some of travesty and they should all be flogged. JFC

The Trumps’ unsubtle quids and quos make Hunter Biden’s dodgy dealings look as innocuous as a lemonade stand.

@canidmajor , There are Deadheads (fans of the Grateful Dead) rotting in prison now with 75-year long jail sentences due to selling LSD at Grateful Dead parking lots. These are not thieves. These are not corrupt businessmen (the way Hunter is). These were not people who trafficked women across state lines (the way Hunter did).
And they are in prison due to Joe Biden’s vehement support of Mandatory Minimum Jail sentencing and in-rem Civil Asset Forfeiture laws that Joe Biden co-sponsored as a Senator.
Is he pardoning them? Nope….
Joe Biden is basically partially justifying Trump’s corruption.
Hunter Biden is not a good man. Look up the correspondence he was involved in with Chinese businessmen. Look at the hardball tactics he played on them. He acted like a mafioso. Using his last name as protection.
At this point, Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Donald Trump, and his 2 adult sons should all suffer the same fate as Ashli Babbit. They are parasites upon America and parasites upon humanity.

@Kraigmo 75 years for dealing? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Are there really sentences that long for dealing? They should be let out of jail.

@Kraigmo Give examples please. Be specific.

Oh, @Kraigmo, at this point, so the fuck what.

If I’m not mistaken, @Kraigmo is speaking about something like the “3 strikes” program.

The government has made several extremely expensive efforts, at stopping illegal drug use. Including the “war on drugs” from the Reagan era.

There ARE some drugs, that because of their classification, carry exponentially harsher punishment for possessing and especially selling them.

The “drug war,” locked up a LOT minorities and ruined generations of people/neighborhoods, over crack/cocaine in the 1980’s-‘90’s, and it was yet another example of how harsher punishments have little effects on crime.

The “justice system,” combined with our many laws, have resulted in America having one of the highest incarceration rates of any “1st world country.”

The privatization of prisons played a large role as well.

It’s difficult for people who have personally felt the full weight of the US “justice system,” watch affluent nepo-babies walk away from one reprehensible crime, after another.

Hunter, likely got away with exponentially worse, and more frequent crimes, than a LOT of people currently in some form of incarceration or on multi-year probationary periods.

We go to prison. The wealthy go to resort-like rehabilitation facilities, and keep getting wealthier.

@seawulf575 I guess you think you’re better informed than the author of this article?

“Critics have argued that President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter was political nepotism—bad for the country, selfish, the height of privilege. But the actual story is the very opposite of nepotism: Hunter Biden was treated worse than an ordinary citizen because of his family connections. It’s good for the country when the president acts against injustice; President Biden rightly condemned the injustice of his son’s prosecution. His pardon was necessary to prevent Donald Trump’s Justice Department from targeting Hunter for years to come.”

“I worked as a federal criminal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for 12 years, during which time I supervised and prosecuted many gun and tax cases. President Biden argues that the gun and tax charges Hunter was convicted of should never have been brought. I agree. When I served as deputy chief for the Southern District of New York’s Criminal Division, my job was to approve charging and non-prosecution decisions on gun and tax cases. I would not have approved the felony gun and tax charges brought against Hunter Biden; such charges are rarely—if ever—brought in similar circumstances.”

“Prosecutors charged Hunter with lying about his drug addiction when he purchased a firearm, and with possessing that firearm while he was a drug addict. They were wrong to do so. As a first-time offender with no criminal record or history of violent behavior who possessed a gun for only 11 days and didn’t use it, he did not pose a public-safety risk to warrant federal gun charges. The public interest is served by treating addiction, not weaponizing it. In a gross display of addiction-shaming, prosecutors used Hunter’s own words from his memoir about overcoming drug addiction against him at trial. They forced his former romantic partners to testify and dredge up details of his addiction. The prosecution’s trial presentation was cruel and humiliating.”

- Hunter Biden Was Unfairly Prosecuted. His father did the right thing. By Kristy Greenberg

@Zaku You know what I find interesting about all that blather? At no time in that article did she acknowledge that Hunter had pled guilty to the charges. At no time in that article did she acknowledge that Hunter had not been sentenced on any of the charges. She says that charges in both the gun and tax cases charges are rarely if ever brought. She would have you believe that if Trump had willfully not paid taxes he owed for 4 years and ran his business like a piggy bank, calling all his debauchery “business expenses” that she, when she was a federal prosecutor, would not have brought charges. And in the entire thing, she ignores that all this with Hunter was predicated on the Dems lying about the laptop. It ignores that there were many other charges to be brought and these were lesser charges that were involved, but the “special prosecutor” had to slow walk the investigation to let the statute of limitations expire on the worse charges. It ignores that the tax charges are not federal charges…they are state charges. It ignores that Biden’s DoJ and other corrupt Dems brought charges against Trump that were less substantial than what Hunter had. In other words, Hunter got put under the microscope only after the Dems started this idiotic lawfare. The amount of stuff that is left out of that is astounding. But hey, it’s the Atlantic so what would you expect?

And the real kicker is that she ignores the fact that Biden didn’t just pardon Hunter for these two crimes. He gave a blanket pardon for all the crimes he may or may not have committed for the past 11 years. She would have you believe it was only these two charges.

Thank God Republicans are as clean, as the preacher’s sheets…
Otherwise, they would sound like REAL hypocrites on this subject…

@MrGrimm888 Yeah, ain’t it sweet? The difference is you don’t see 51 former intelligence personnel trying to cover up for Biden so they can influence the election. You don’t see Trump or Republicans sending storm troopers to drag people out of their homes for daring to try protecting their children from radicals at an abortion clinic. You don’t see Republicans having fathers arrested and charged as domestic terrorists for daring to question a school board on their policy of allowing boys in the girls bathroom which led to his 14 year old daughter brutally raped. You don’t see the Republicans working with social media and the legacy media to censor all views that people express which the Pubs don’t like.You don’t see any of these sort of things from Republicans. But what you do see is that when they identify the corruption the Dems are pushing, you see a whole lot of wild claims of political persecution after all the claims of racism and Nazism is done being thrown around. But that all comes from the Dems. And people like you eat it up. You are the problem in the country. You are so brainwashed, you can’t see you are rushing to make yourself a slave…something Dems have done in this country for a big part of the country’s history.

@seawulf575 All classic fright-wing talking points . . . but you missed Trump was sent by God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIYQfyA_1Hc

Why am I “the problem” Wulf?

Because I won’t let people like you spread lies, and live without knowing people don’t like it?
I didn’t counter your vote.
Why in SO much of a tizzy?

^MAGA republicans won and they’re still complaining.

@MrGrimm888 You are part of the problem because you don’t recognize facts at all when they disagree with the lies you have been told. You support things that are dangerous to this country all while ranting about Orange Man Bad. But then you fully represent loony lefties everywhere. You have all the talking points down, but when it comes to actually defending them you have to ignore facts. You cannot defend your views with facts. That is why you are the problem.

@jonsblond Yeah, we have a low tolerance for ignorance and stupidity. Take your comment: I’m not a MAGA Republican. I am a solid independent. Facts don’t matter to you and you revel in your ignorance.

My my Wulf. You sure have a temper, when it comes to defending your conservative cowards. You keep it up, like a good little sheep now.
But.
When you go to sleep clinching your MyPillow named Donny, know it will NEVER love you back…

@seawulf575 and I have had our major differences but on this issue I more or less agree with him, albeit for probably different reasons. I give zero fucks that he pardoned his son for the specific crime he was guilty for. What I care about is that he pardoned his son as a blanket pardon for 10 years. That’s awfully vague and a terrible precedent for the future, mainly Trump and the damage he can do.

@Caravanfan Exactly! (did I just agree?). I don’t agree with blanket pardons like that. I wouldn’t agree with something like that from Trump or any other president. It points to criminal abetting in my book. If Biden had just pardoned Hunter for the charges he had been to trial for, I would have just shook my head with an “I told you so”. It was expected. And really he (Joe) could have let Hunter go to sentencing and then granted him clemency. He would have kept his word to not pardon Hunter, and there would have been less outrage.

From what I’ve heard, from analysts, Biden (his advisors) was concerned that Trump would somehow override his pardon in the future.
There have been a lot of names floated that Biden may “pre-pardon,” (whatever/however that means) to protect from Trump.

As Trump has publicly threatened to “jail” his detractors and people involved with his numerous investigations, they are making efforts to try to protect as many people as possible from Trump.

The “blanket immunity,” was probably the only way of guaranteeing Hunter was as safe as Biden could make him…

Obviously, it’s relevant to note that Trump was given total legal immunity for far greater crimes, and thsr immunity ruling, is THE only reason Trump was even able to run again, instead of likely being in federal prison or on house arrest…

It is indeed, a ridiculous concept, regardless of partisan leanings.