Pardoning a parent: Joe Biden's first step to set an example increases the power of the president
Joe Biden is receiving criticism from political supporters for setting a new precedent in American history for the first pardon of a presidential descendant.
And all they can do is, in fact, complain.
Because the president's pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, last weekend highlights the expanding power of the American presidency and it may be growing.
There is virtually nothing Congress can do to limit the pardon power, which has been reaffirmed in numerous Supreme Court decisions over the generations.
In 1866 again 1871the supreme court ruled that Congress could not reverse the pardon; in the middle 1974It has determined that Congress cannot alter, abridge or diminish the powers, contained in the Constitution.
What about amending the Constitution? Lots of possibilities for that. It it needs three-fourths of the states, and possibly a one-third vote in both houses of Congress.
This is combined with youth Supreme Court decision that makes it more difficult to impeach the president for actions taken while in office, or even to gather evidence for a trial.
US President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter, protecting him from prison time with a federal gun and tax evasion, despite earlier promises to refrain from using presidential power to benefit the family.
One of the founding fathers, George Mason, scared that the power of forgiveness can destroy the American republic and re-establish the monarchy.
And now the incoming president, who has already been accused of repeatedly abusing the pardon power, is about to take office.
In his first term, Donald Trump you are forgiven several friends, political allies, people who agreed not to testify against him, and the candidate for the next ambassador to France: Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law.
In his second term, Trump had already said he would pardon supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; you are here now showing he will use the Hunter Biden pardon as an excuse.
A number of Democrats expressed fear Monday that Biden's move would include their future efforts to publicize Trump's abuses.
“President Biden's decision to pardon his son was wrong,” said Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, a Democrat, in a post on social media X.
“This was an abuse of power, erodes trust in our government, and emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests.”
There were a number of these complaints coming from Capitol Hill.
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said the president is putting his own interests ahead of his job and is eroding the public's faith in the justice system.
Another congressman, Greg Landsman, said: “As a father, I hear you. But as someone who wants to restore public faith in the government, he called it back.
Biden has defenders, too
Not everyone was so critical.
Some of Biden's defenders were bolder than others. Another congresswoman, Jasmine Crockett, actually congratulated Biden.
“Way to go, Joe,” Crockett, a former public defender, told MSNBC. He called the case against Hunter Biden politically motivated and said the president did the right thing.
In a bold move by the American president before his term ends next month, Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter Biden, after he previously said he would not do so. Andrew Chang breaks down the pardons, which include any criminal activity Hunter may have committed in the past 10 years, and explains why the president reversed course.
He also lamented that a convicted criminal is about to become president and added: “For anyone who wants to clutch their pearls now … I would say look in the mirror.”
In an interview with CBC News, the former federal prosecutor, and frequent Trump critic, took a more measured approach.
When asked if Biden's pardon is unfair, or hypocritical, given how often the White House has denied it will happen, Nick Akerman agreed.
“I can't argue with that at all,” Akerman, a former New York prosecutor who worked on the Watergate case, told the CBC News Network.
But he added that he also can't blame Biden.
He said the incoming president has repeatedly stated that he plans to punish political enemies; Trump also put hardcore they don't support in the key justice roles.
“I think it's legal [concern],” Akerman said.
“If you had your child going into the federal prison system, and you knew it was going to be handled by political thugs who have vowed to take revenge on Donald Trump's enemies, I don't know how many people wouldn't do that.” the same under these circumstances.”
The use of the pardon power is controversial
Akerman called Trump the biggest abuser in the amnesty program to date.
Earlier, Bill Clinton was criticized to forgive his half-brother, Roger, on his last day in office, because of old convictions for the distribution of cocaine, and a rich donor.
Other controversial uses of the power include the pardoning of ex-Confederates after the Civil War and the amnesty granted to former president Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal.
UCLA constitutional scholar Jon Michaels, who was interviewed by CBC News, shared Akerman's assessment, summarizing his mixed feelings this way: “Is it a healthy way to run the country? No – but we're not in a particularly healthy time as a country.”
This first paternal pardon includes Hunter Biden's conviction for late taxes. He also had an illegal firearm for 11 days, after lying on a mandatory form about his past drug use. He was he was sentenced this year and faced a potentially lengthy sentence.
In explaining the pardon, Biden said these types of cases would likely never have been brought, and would not have been prosecuted here if not for political pressure.
“It is clear that Hunter was treated differently,” explained the president.
“No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter's charges can come to any other conclusion than that Hunter was singled out simply because he is my son – and that is wrong … Enough is enough.”
What Hunter Biden was – and was not – impeached
Republicans have long maintained that there is a more complicated story that could lead to more indictments and uncomfortable questions for the Biden family.
Hunter Biden never registered as a foreign agent, however earning hundreds of thousands of dollars from Chinese, Romanian and Ukrainian companies, in part to help make presentations to his clients to American officials.
Depending on where you come from in politics, the controversy involving US President Joe Biden's son Hunter is either one of the biggest corruption scandals in American history or a far-right joke. CBC's Alex Panetta reveals what we know, what we don't know and what's next.
In a contentious court hearing last year, a judge asked whether Biden could still be charged with being an unregistered foreign agent.
This started a hot exchange between Biden's lawyers and prosecutors. That exchange led to the previous plea agreement falling apart.
Trump in public entered into an agreementcriticizing the prosecutor he had appointed, calling him a coward.
Prosecutors later added new gun charges, which included Hunter Biden he was sentenced this yearand he was awaiting his sentence.
All that ended on Sunday. With an unusually broad amnesty, his father absolved him of any state crimes he might have committed, from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.
Some legal writers have it they argued that the conversion is likely to be fair – meaning amnesty for a prison sentence.
But that would not protect Hunter Biden from any further prosecution on top of any previous federal charges; this will.
Although the president has his defenders, the reaction in Washington was summed up by column with a Politico headline, titled, “Joe Biden's Breakup Is an Insult.”
“Voters now know how important his voice as Biden is,” said the piece, which criticized the president for breaking his promise not to pardon.
“Biden is leaving the presidency insisting that it was about saving democracy by delivering a vote of no confidence in the institutions that his successor clearly intends to attack.”
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