Summary
President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden, reversing his prior stance against using executive clemency.
The pardon covers Hunter’s federal gun conviction and tax evasion guilty plea, sparking political controversy.
Biden cited political attacks and a “miscarriage of justice” as reasons for his decision, emphasizing his son’s recovery from addiction and the targeting of his family.
Critics argue the move undermines the judicial process, while supporters view it as within Biden’s constitutional powers.
This decision shields Hunter from potential prison time as Biden nears the end of his presidency.
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I’ve always found it absurd that presidents possess the authority to grant pardons. It trivializes our judicial system and undermines its integrity. This power should not be vested in the presidency.
It’s supposed to be a check on the judicial. Are you suggesting it should be vested elsewhere or just not at all? I wouldn’t remove any checks on this court personally
A lot of people here missing the point. We don’t care about this because Hunter was the target of a witch hunt. The actual “crimes” weren’t impactful at all. The Republicans literally spent 8 years dragging him through the mud, digging for anything that he could be charged with, just because who his dad is. And Hunter didn’t even touch politics in the slightest.
The gun charge is the moral equivalent of crucifying someone for having pirated music on their hard drive. It was a nothing crime, never enforced, and the only reason it was in this case was because they happened to find something they could latch onto.
I don’t know anything about the tax evasion conviction. If it was serious, then sure, fuck him. But I’d want them going after every politician AND their family with equal vigor. But guess what? They aren’t.
That’s why most of us don’t really care. The man is not important. He holds no position of power, nor has he expressed any intent to. He is not important, except as a whipping boy for their propaganda. And a pardon for such preposterous prosecution is fine with me.
First, did Bidden just notice that his son was a target of a “witch hunt” after the election? Or was he just lying before?
And second, Bidden literally controlled the DOJ for 4 years. It was his call whether to go after other corrupt politicians or not.
I think Biden was holding out hope in the institutions and people of America and was sorely disappointed, like a lot of us, so is doing what he has to, like a lot of us.
Bingo.
Biden was waiting to see if America’s institutions and citizens would hold up and pass the test. They did not. They failed spectacularly, in fact. A criminal became president and will now not be held accountable for his crimes, and citizens voted explicitly for that corruption.
I’d be damned if I was sitting president if I would let my son be in prison for non-violent crimes when a criminal who openly stated he would target his political opponents sits in the Oval Office.
Clearly taking the high road doesn’t work in America, so why the fuck should Biden continue doing so?
It is amazing to me how people will make excuses for a lying politician that even he did not bother to make.
What’s amazing to me is that you people fall for the rage bait every time.
Then he’s an idiot who had no business in office in the first place.
But he’s not an idiot and he’s been in government for decades. On top of that, he lived through January 6th like the rest of us.
He just didn’t give a shit.
Crocodile tears for this rich shitty little partier silver spooned brat, but anyone else convicted by a jury of their peers should go to jail where they belong, huh.
It’s common practice for outgoing presidents to wrap up loose ends like this. Late term pardons are not a new thing.
Yeah, but he’s a Democrat, so he’s held to higher standards than Republicans.
If a Republican did this you probably wouldn’t have even heard about it.
Do we need any better example than what just happened to know that Democrats are held to astronomically high standards, while Republicans can basically do whatever the fuck they want without repercussion?
She had to be flawless and he got to be lawless.
He did not just leave it for later, he actively lied saying he will not pardon Hunter.
And?
You gonna leave your son in prison while a criminal president who explicitly stated he’d target his political opponents sits in the Oval Office?
Republicans just blatantly lied their way into total power and you’re over here whining about a Democrat lying about getting his son out of prison for non-violent crimes on his way out of office?
Your priorities are utterly fucked.
I can simultaneously “whine” about multiple things. I guess I am talented at “whining”.
Also, this kind of shit is part of the reason why that orange won in the first place. Democrats putting up a marginally better candidate and pretending to be saviors of the Earth.
The calories you burned typing your complaint about Biden pardoning Hunter are wasted calories. It’s so irrelevant and small compared to the avalanche of bullshit we’ve already dealt with and will be dealing with for the foreseeable future, that it’s comical to even consider. The fact that Trump made it abundantly clear he’d be targeting his political opponents is all the justification needed for Biden to pardon Hunter.
And no, Democrats putting up a “marginally” better candidate is not how the orange dipshit won. First of all, a successful prosecutor with a doctorate in law and a significant political resume isn’t “marginally” better than a twice impeached convicted felon and rapist who instigated a violent insurrection and illegally attempted to overturn an election. I don’t know what dimension someone has to live in to think there’s only a “marginal” difference there. Secondly, the orange dipshit is president because Americans are STUPID. Because Americans don’t do their homework. Americans don’t lookup voting histories so they can see that Democrats are way better about voting in favor of the working class. They don’t look up the conviction histories to find out Democrats have WAY, WAY less convicted criminals who have served in their ranks than Republicans. Americans don’t grasp that you aren’t just voting for the person, but the party. Donald Trump is president…again…because Americans are STUPID. Not because Democrats are only “marginally” better.
The calories you burned
Meh, I can use fewer calories.
Americans are STUPID
Can’t argue there.
Americans don’t grasp that you aren’t just voting for the person, but the party.
You literally vote for specific people in the US, unlike in many countries where you vote for parties. That’s the whole point of your incredibly flawed representatives system. Saying people should vote Harris because of her party is like saying people should buy the terrible and useless apple vision because other apple products are good.
a successful prosecutor with a significant political resume
To most people, those sound like red flags, not advantages.
convicted felon and rapist who instigated a violent insurrection and illegally attempted to overturn an election
I mean, yeah. Americans are stupid. But then again, why should anyone believe those accusations if democrats argue lying is perfectly fine and not an issue?
This, I think, is what bothers me. I understand the reasoning but still… The pardoning, no surprise. The lying, makes me a bit sad. I understand the reasoning but it still makes me sad.
I mean, true, but does it matter? The new president spits out dozens of lies daily and he got voted in. If anything, this is what the people want, someone who lies to them.
If it doesn’t matter, why is everyone angry at the people who didn’t vote? :D
Because they enabled this system where nothing matters?
Guess he changed his mind.
We don’t care about this because Hunter was the target of a witch hunt.
He was convicted in court by a jury of his peers same as every other American under charges would see. He wasnt convicted in some political “witch hunt” process in congress, nor was he convicted by an activist judge. The congressional investigation went nowhere and was shut down. Hunters convictions carried a sentence of 15 to 21 months. If his conviction is unfair and needs to be resisted then the entire system of justice in america is unfair.
The actual “crimes” weren’t impactful at all.
thats not your call to make. This is just another case of hard justice being for the little people only, and you seem to be cheering that on. How low can you go, man. Biden spent a lifetime banging tables pretending to be a tough on crime guy. You seem to have forgotten all of that.
This never should have been before a jury.
The prosecution had agreed to drop the gun charge as apart of a plea bargain (because it’s a crime that is only ever used as an add-on for violent crimes). But the fucking judge rejected the plea deal after Biden had admitted guilt.
That’s bullshit and 100% should have been thrown out.
I’m not a lawyer, but I thought the way it worked was that the prosecutor offers the plea bargain and the accused accepts but it’s still up to the judge’s discretion whether that accepted plea bargain goes through, meaning that the system was working as it always works and it wasn’t some sort of special persecution deal.
The judge almost never throws out a plea bargain - and it’s almost unheard of for one to throw it out for not being harsh enough.
They’re more often rejected for thing like a plea bargain where the case should be dismissed entirely or the defendant has a very good chance of winning or securing a lesser conviction at trial. Judges are supposed to err on the side of leniency.
Rejecting a plea bargain because a charge that is almost never prosecuted is being dismissed is judicial malpractice.
The gun crime he was convicted for is one that anyone who has ever smoked pot is guilty of if they ever touched a gun before quitting pot entirely.
If a resident of Colorado eats a gummy legally and has a gun in the safe at home, they’ve committed the same crime.
He was convicted in court by a jury of his peers same as every other American under charges would see.
So was Trump. But he got away with it and is now President. Hell, he didn’t even have to go through the process for most of his crimes. Just bypassed it all.
Nothing else matters now. The rest of your comment is irrelevant. The justice system is irrelevant.
Free Hunter!!!
Im uninformed so I know nothing of Hunter’s supposed crimes. Can I get a quick rundown?
If you’re being serious, the gun charge is that he checked some box on a gun application stating that he didn’t have any drug addiction problems. IIRC, it was after he got his shit together and was sober.
I didn’t follow the tax evasion charge.
I honestly have no in depth knowledge of any of this stuff
I don’t know anything about the tax evasion conviction. If it was serious, then sure, fuck him.
If you can’t even be bothered to read an article about it why should any weight be given to your opinion. The tax fraud was 1.4 million dollars and he actively lied on his returns to avoid payment. He effectively stole over a million dollars, fuck him and all tax cheats.
Ok. What part of that conflicts with what I said?
If he cheated on taxes, then fuck him. But I think it’s generally assumed that these fucks all cheat on their taxes. So if you’re going to go after one, then go after all of them.
And again, he’s not actually a politician, and was only targeted because of who his dad is. If you don’t see that as abuse of authority as revenge against his dad, then there’s no point in talking to you.
Also, if you read the fucking article yourself, it never goes into details on the tax charges.
There is no “if,” he did cheat on his taxes for over a million dollars. Yes, go after all of them! The only reason Hunter got away for so long was because of who his dad is, so kind of karmic that it came back around for the same reason. Hunter received far more leniency for a long time for drugs, gun, and financial crimes due to his wealth and families influence and Joe Biden was instrumental in making sure poor people who do the same thing get punished harshly. Until it was HIS son, then all the excuses came out.
Also, if you read the fucking article yourself, it never goes into details on the tax charges.
This article does not, but none of this is new. We have known about these crimes for years. You displayed absolutely zero curiosity about what crimes he did in your haste to whitewash Biden’s hypocrisy. We will not get better politicians or leaders until we demand it.
I do not care that Hunter was not a politician, though that never prevented him from getting paid off his family name and only avoided punishment for so long because of who his father is. I do not care why the charges come about, these rich fucks need to pay. Maybe if the Democrats were willing to see that the rich and powerful actually face consequences Trump and all these right wing grifters might have been dealt with before they came to power. But back when Trump and Kushner were donating to Democratic campaigns none of them managed to give a shit. We should strive for a higher standard of morality than Donald fucking Trump.
Lol.
Most of these comments are a great example of how stupid Americans are.
All my life Dems have been held to a higher standard. I’ve watched them take the high road so many times while the Republicans went low. Continued to honor decorum when Republicans refused.
And guess what happened?
Americans told them to go fuck themselves and voted for blatant Republican corruption instead.
And now there’s a bunch of comments in here whining about how Democrats are corrupt for doing this.
Go fuck yourselves. Clowns.
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Nothing quite as pathetic as going personal in a political discussion.
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Hypocrisy is not a virtue and two wrongs don’t make a right.
Hope this helps!
Hypocrisy is not a virtue and two wrongs don’t make a right.
In 2024 America it is and they do.
Hope this helps!
It doesn’t. The voters proved that “high road” bullshit is pointless. Therefore they will get what they deserve.
And holding one side to a standard while letting the other side do whatever they want is also hypocrisy
He said he wouldn’t but at this point Joe might as well YOLO idk anymore.
It would be cool if he went out in a blaze of glory that wasn’t self serving. Like legalizing weed, arming Ukraine, and just generally trying to fuck shit up for Trump before he gets in.
He did approve long range missiles for Ukraine. So, he kind of did.
He can’t pardon those things. He can improve them, but nothing like the absolute power of the pardon.
Don’t forget getting rid of the penny and axing daylight saving time. 100% president of the century if he executive ordered these things.
I don’t think it’s so much YOLO as recognizing that Hunter would be a target of Trump once he assumes office.
It seems to me to be a form of self defense. People do things that they otherwise wouldn’t do when the alternative is bad enough.
It’s not a great look…but let’s be frank. Biden was pushed out of a race he wanted, during a presidency that wasn’t all that bad considering what came before. The Dems that wanted him out are now all either infighting, or saying everything is fine and they’ll definitely win in four years. Biden’s in the last weeks of his job, and when he’s lost so much already he probably just wants to ensure his family are safe.
After decades of public service, and being committed to handing power over to someone that’s demonized what’s left of his family, I’m all for Biden using his last week or two to protect his family and enjoy retirement.
I can’t stand this “not a good look” talk when democrats have to basically be squeaky cleak that they can’t even own a peanut farm or swear and yet 10 years into the “grab them by the pussy” guy who makes fun of disabled people, women, calls everyone names including his own party… Nobody bats an eyelash. I don’t care if Joe Biden lied for his son at this point, Donald pardoned and will continue to pardon dozens of family and staff and insurrectionists. It’s ok for Trump to lie about not knowing project 2025 and then immediately hire everyone involved with it days later… But Biden can’t lie once. Got it.
But Biden can’t lie once. Got it.
I mean… He ran in 2020 saying he would only be a one-term President…
And then him and his staff hid his cognitive decline well past the start of the primaries…
He also said there’d be consequences for Israel if they didn’t start allowing aid into Gaza…
So that’s four lies, counting his backtrack on pardoning his son.
The problem is Biden helped create the legal system he’s now shielding his son from. The same legal system that put thousands upon thousands of sons and daughters behind bars.
And with the recent attention police conduct has gotten (and all the footage we see of officers abusing/torturing/beating/killing those being arrested), how many of those kids never made it to the courtroom because of ol’ Joe “Maybe Cops Can Just Shoot-em in the Leg” Biden and the militarized police force he helped create?
You’re right, Republicans are corrupt to the core, they’re pieces of shit, and they have and will do things that are worse than this. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that this only benefits the Biden family, and is corruption, full stop. I understand why he did it, and I’ve gone back and forth on whether I’d do the same in his shoes (which probably means I would)…
But he deserves to be criticized for it, as I would be, because it’s blatant corruption, and just reinforces the notion amongst non-voters that both parties are the same, they only care about protecting and enriching their own, and us plebs can just go fuck ourselves.
And actions like this are exactly why people say “both parties,” because they prove it.
Yeah honestly I’d do the same if I were in his position. I can’t blame him.
This is SUPREME CORRUPTION! What next? He’s going to Appointment Family Members to Government Positions? Allow the Highest Bidders to Buy OVERSIGHT Positions? SELL Pardons? DISGUSTING!
i would have said ‘no’ a little while ago but now fuck it, the people have spoken. the problem now is that he isn’t doing enough fuckery to benefit the people. supreme court declared that the president is above the law and he isn’t doing anything with that. sc did it for trump but biden could and should use it. literally send everything on the dod depot to ukraine, give unlimited funds to solar and wind, forgive every loan and shoot modafukin steve bannon in the face
Unfortunately, what would that mean in a few months? Trump would have ALL shreds or pretence and standards removed. He’d pull an iraq Parliament, and arrest congresspersons right on the floor. Look up “Saddam purge”.
Now, I’m not saying it won’t happen anyway, but Biden doing it now normalizes it then. The degree to which we give up systemic stability now, is permanent and relevant then. We would hope the sheer novelty / abnormality of trump acting so impulsively would trigger revolt, even from his “base”. That, or we get man-in-thehighcastle-ed and america is broken up as a result.
None of that is good for global welfare.
It’s already normalized for the Republicans. Trump pardoned a family member and is now trying to appoint him as Ambassador to France.
I say it’s about fucking time the Democrats start fighting fire with fire. I’m not honestly sure I’d be disappointed if Biden took Sotomayor’s dissent to heart and used it to solve our nations biggest problem right now, because you can be damn sure that Trump and his advisors will be doing it soon enough anyway. Might as well beat them to the punch a change.
Taking the high road for the last 40+ years has clearly not worked.
Biden shooting a political opponent is not normalized.
Edit bunch of armchair warriors here on Lemmy.
Taking the high road
This pardon is another example of taking the high road?
They’re clearly saying that this is the opposite.
What does hypocrisy mean to you?
I think hypocrisy implies similarities in transgressions. And if you’re talking about that in this context it just shows your ignorance.
ignorance
You’re projecting.
Quotes from President Joe Biden stating that he would not pardon his son Hunter Biden:
June 2023: In an interview with ABC News, Biden said, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.” (Source: {‘title’: ‘Biden pardons his son Hunter on gun and tax charges despite previously saying he wouldn’t’, …}) June 2023: At a speaking event, Biden explicitly stated, “I will not pardon him.” (Source: {‘title’: ‘Biden Pardons His Son Hunter Despite Saying He Wouldn’t’, …}) November 8, 2024: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the president’s stance, saying, “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.” (Source: {‘title’: 'Biden pardons his son Hunter despite previously saying he wouldn’t’, …}) June 2023: In a statement, Biden said, “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted. I will not pardon him.” (Source: {‘title’: ‘Statement from President Joe Biden’, …})
What does trolling mean to you?
Reading through these comments and seeing people excuse this because trump is worse validates the race-to-the-bottom strategy that republicans and democrats cooperate on. Republicans will keep lowering the bar while democrats will continue hovering slightly above that bar as their only differentiator and we’re all on the ride on the way down.
You do have to remember that most of us didn’t give a fuck about this supposed crime to begin with. I mean who Among Us hasn’t lied to the government about our drug history?
Also should mention that it’s clearly unconstitutional by the way.
who Among Us hasn’t lied to the government about our drug history?
Me. I’ve yet to be given the opportunity… but I’ll be happy to lie about if it comes up.
The cover up is the crime. Why did the FBI spread false Russian Propaganda misinformation?
Um no?
Don’t tell me if you knew the threat to democracy who had a personal vendetta against you and your child was following you in office and has threatened and made blind accusations multiple times that you would NOT pardon them. Biden did the right thing as a parent and a mildly objectionable thing on a moral standpoint politically which… just fuck off with that. I don’t wanna hear about morality from the party that constantly defends rapist and child abusers
I don’t want to hear about morality regarding biden and his full-throated support of genocide. He said he wouldn’t pardon his son and that he believed in the rule of law, but when it comes down to it, he goes ahead and pardons him because he ultimately knows the institutions he has fought so hard to defend are full of shit. Us peasants are still supposed to be held under the power of these institutions, though, and he has done nothing to change that. In fact, he’s played a big hand in making it as bad as it is now with his tough on crime stance.
Reading through these comments and seeing people excuse this because trump is worse validates the race-to-the-bottom strategy that republicans and democrats cooperate on.
No, you don’t seem to understand. The race to the bottom strategy was a Republican thing. But now that we know that’s how you win in America, some of us are supporting that strategy for Democrats as well.
Gotta adapt to your environment to succeed.
I’m on board with that, but democrats refuse to take advantage of their power for our sake. He’s just doing this for his own sake. This selfishness is what allowed trump a second term, since democrats would’ve had a much better chance if biden stepped down earlier and allowed for a proper primary.
but democrats refuse to take advantage of their power for our sake.
I agree that they could do more. But I also acknowledge that they’ve done WAY more for us than the Republican party has. I don’t vote for perfect. I vote for better.
He’s just doing this for his own sake.
I’m ok with him pardoning his son. First of all, Trump threatened to go after his political opponents if he won. That’s a threat to Biden’s son. So Biden did something about it. Secondly, Biden was, by all metrics, a solid president. And Americans told him and his party to fuck off and re-hired a twice impeached convicted felon and rapist who incited an insurrection and illegally attempted to overturn an election. We treated Biden like shit. He doesn’t owe us anything additional. I think it’s fine to take this small victory to protect his son from unwarranted threats and then retire.
since democrats would’ve had a much better chance if biden stepped down earlier
I agree. But I also have a pretty low opinion of Americans, so I don’t know if it would have mattered in the end.
Is not a race to bottom. It is just the most clear indication that the American system of governance has massive flaws and, as a set of institutions, the system has no way to protect itself from abuse.
It is wild how they willing to defend their side no matter what. This is absolute abuse of power regardless of detail. Again, it is understandable and expected, but still abuse of power.
Considering Hunter Biden was the victim of a politically motivated witch hunt, and not an actual criminal. I have no problem with this,
and not an actual criminal
yeah it can happen to anybody. sometimes you just forget to pay $1.4M you owe in taxes from the millions of dollars of dubious payments from overseas organizations (Burisma Holdings) owned by Russian oligarchs (Mykola Zlochevsky) that just happened to be investigated, tried and convicted of corruption
you know what message this sends to us plebs? they can do whatever the fuck they want. all we can do is sit and watch
sometimes you just forget to pay $1.4M you owe in taxes
That’s not what he was convicted of. It was for buying a gun. That’s a bullshit witch hunt. If it was for tax evasion I would be more upset.
Robert Hunter Biden (Hunter Biden) pleaded guilty in federal court in Los Angeles this afternoon to all counts in a nine-count indictment, including three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses. There was no plea agreement.
He pled guilty. Read more: https://www.justice.gov/sco-weiss/pr/robert-hunter-biden-convicted-three-felony-tax-offenses-and-six-misdemeanor-tax-offenses
He was playing money and tax evasion games. Getting millions of dollars of payments from a sketchy sources in Eastern Europe through his law firm and then what would be called embezzling from his company under different circumstances
This is not normal people behavior. This is most likely the tip of the iceberg. It’s actually a nice little sneak peek into how much money flows between different oligarchs (including US ones) through these sketchy illicit channels
This guy absolutely is a criminal. There’s no question about it. The trial probably is politically motivated too.
He pled guilty. Read more: https://www.justice.gov/sco-weiss/pr/robert-hunter-biden-convicted-three-felony-tax-offenses-and-six-misdemeanor-tax-offenses
You’re right. Knowing this is about tax evasion, it does piss me off a little now
But if you are mad about this, how come you weren’t mad when Treason Trump pardoned Rob Blogorovich which was a hugely bigger deal? He was a Democrat which means Trump did that for the sole purpose of normalizing corruption.
why the whataboutism? why the compulsive need to downplay the severity of this?
yes, trump is a criminal too. and he has pardoned criminals and will likely pardon more criminals.
why the compulsive need to downplay the severity of this?
Why was the severity of Treason Trump’s pardon of the much more serious crimes of Blogorovich downplayed?
Why do YOU care more about this pardon than you cared about the much worse pardon of Blogorovich?
Maybe in order to know the answer of your question you need to know the answer to my question. The reason why others are less outraged than you is they see that your outrage is selective.
YOUR lack of outrage about the the way more serious Bogorovich pardon is way worse than my lack of outrage about this.
the topic of this thread is Biden pardoning his son, who was guilty of serious financial crimes.
you’re the one being selective in your outrage, not me. i disapprove of all these guys.
the thing with Biden though, is that the DNC frames themselves as the good guys. You know, Trump is a corrupt criminal, bla bla bla.
So when Trump does, it isn’t really a surprise. It’s what you come to expect from someone like him. I’m not approving of Trump’s pardons because I’m mentioning Biden’s
The issue is that Biden promised various times that he would not pardon his son. But now that he has nothing left to lose (his career is over, and probably the country is doomed to fascism anyways) so fuck it. Integrity is for schmucks anyway, right? i guess the moral of the story is make sure you have a powerful dad
personally I’m not even outraged about it. I’m glad he did it so that it’s more clear to everyday Americans that they’re all a bunch of crooks
If the law truly means nothing, then may it be exposed as such and may all do as they will.
It’s not like Hunter was a convicted felon serving as President, or any political office. If y’all want to try to throw the rock of corruption, you might want to leave that glass house or step away from the windows
Indeed, if Trump can skate for stuff he actually fucking did on nationa television, Hunter doesn’t need to go to jail for the results of a witch hunt.
You do realize they had solid evidence of. at least, one 3rd degree felony,
owning a firearm when previous convictions bar you from doing socommitted fraud on the paperwork to own a gun. right? He has been in criminal trouble, doing things many people are spending decades in prison for, and has never had a serious issue because daddy is Joe Biden. You know, one of the biggest signatories to the drug war, that Joe Biden? Fuck him.He was not a felon. That rule applies to felony convictions. And can be repaired by the state that convicted you.
The charges were for buying a gun while being an addict.
Ok, I was wrong about it being barred. He got a felony fraud charge for lying on the paperwork to own the gun. It is still a crime, and he still did it. The charges aren’t fake. My point still stands that he is going to not have anything happen, again, because he is a nepo-baby, fuck him. There are people in prison for this, right now, and his dad was one of the biggest political agents behind the types of laws he broke. Rules for thee, and all that.
My point still stands that he is going to not have anything happen, again, because he is a nepo-baby, fuck him
What actually happened is that the only reason he was prosecuted was because he was a high profile person.
Hunter Biden was not above the law in the case. He was below the law.
I don’t care who his dad is the law is a thought crime that can get you put in prison on nothing more than innuendo. Make a bad joke about drugs after going to a shooting range? You too can go to prison.
And it’s rarely used as anything more than an add on charge because of its constitutional dubiousness. We shouldn’t be okay with this happening to anyone.
I never agreed with the law. I am mad that he broke a law, one his dad fought for, and he isn’t going to go to prison for it like I would. The law its self is a whole other matter than what is being discussed here, about him being pardoned, after being convicted of a crime, because daddy is the president, with the extra poignancy that daddy is one of the major reasons that law exists.
Biden was at Syracuse University in 1968. He would go on to be elected to the County Council. He didn’t become a Senator until 1973. So how exactly was he, “one of the major reasons that law exists”, when he wasn’t even an elected official at the time.
Didn’t say he wrote it, or that he voted to initially pass it. I said he is a major reason it exists. This law has come under fire numerous times, and Joe has always supported it, rather than supporting over-turning it. Even as recently as 2023, after the supreme court decided it was unconstitutional, he still staunchly showed his support for it.
He was not a felon
Not true. Hunter Biden was convicted of 3 felony tax evasion charges and 6 misdemeanor tax evasion charges totalling 1.4 million in intentional fraud. Plus three felony charges of lying on a gun registration. He absolutely was a 6 time felon awaiting sentencing. The decision whether he was a felon or not was already settled by a jury of his peers.
The above comment was deleted, but they were referring to the felony bar to purchasing a firearm. Which is why that’s what my comment discusses.
Yes, but the “fraud” was him just saying he had no drugs in his system, for a gun he only owned for 11 days.
And as many legal scholars have pointed out, no one really ever gets charged for this, it’s just sorta “on the books” with its use against Hunter Biden being one of the only times the law has ever been enforced, and it was only enforced to score a political point with the far right.
Selective enforcement is wrong, no matter if you’re the President’s son or just another face in the crowd in the most poverty stricken town in America.
You do realize they had solid evidence of. at least, one 3rd degree felony,
owning a firearm when previous convictions bar you from doing socommitted fraud on the paperwork to own a gun. right? He has been in criminal trouble, doing things many people are spending decades in prison for, and has never had a serious issue because daddy is Joe Biden. You know, one of the biggest signatories to the drug war, that Joe Biden? Fuck him.reposting my old comment here because it deleted when I saved the edit
On the one hand this is pretty hypocritical. On the other hand I probably would do the same in his position given that trump plans to weaponize the Justice department. Not great but this is the state our country is in now.
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I’m not happy about this. Not one bit. Just like how I wouldn’t have been happy to hear about Trump pardoning one of his own kids for breaking the law. As a matter of fact, I’m furious reading some of the comments in this thread.
It shocks me to see people defending this. We fought against the Republicans to prevent misuse of executive powers exactly like this. How the fuck can you sit there and rationalize this while saying it’s wrong for Trump to pardon the Jan 6th insurrectionists? or himself for that matter?
This is a black stain on Biden’s presidential legacy. It’s shit like this that puts wind in the sails of all the crazy Republican conspiracy theorists out there. Now, every single motherfucker who ranted and raved about the “Biden Crime Family” since 2020 was just proven right, just like how all the people who said that Trump’s convictions were politically motivated were proven right when Jack Smith dropped the charges. It makes us look like fucking morons and hypocrites.
No, before anyone says it, it is not smart to stoop to their level when basically the only messaging we sent out during the entire 2024 campaign was that we were the morally superior choice. That someone who doesn’t respect the rule of law has no business being president. Now, we don’t even have that to lean on.
No, before anyone says it, it is not smart to stoop to their level
While it’s a bit disappointing, I understand that one perspective is that it is a defensive move. I don’t think it is unreasonable to assume that Trump is going to abuse his power and weaponize the Justice Dept to extract everything he can, politically, from the resulting show.
I don’t know whether or not Biden would have done the exact same thing if it was a more reasonable Republican administration coming in. That would be far more telling. It might have been that Biden was making a show of it with the assumption that he’d be overseeing and influencing it all as president and if that weren’t the case he’d be abusing his authority to spare his son.
Yes, it’s frustrating because of the message it send but frankly, I don’t think it’ll cause much trouble. Everyone who’d see it as an admission of the guilt of the “Biden crime family” wasn’t going to change their mind, even if Hunter was publicly drawn and quartered by the Biden administration. Those folks would immediately move the goal post - “Yeah, whatever, but what about…” or just insist Hunter’s death was fake and it was all sham.
This is a black stain on Biden’s presidential legacy.
Hahahahaha
100%
I’m not super shocked to see people defending this because a chunk of people will always play defense. I’m shocked to see how many are defending this. Nobody should give a shit about Hunter Biden. The attention brought onto him was certainly politically motivated but the trial itself was not. He did the crimes and he should be ready for the consequences. The guy is clearly a grifter.
I don’t care if Democrats stoop to the level of Republicans when it is actually defending our rights. When it is for blatant nepotism though? Fuck that with a sharp stick.
Funnily enough, the local satire paper here ran a story right before Thanksgiving with the headline “Turkey Pardoned by President Looks an Awful Lot Like Hunter Biden” with a picture of Hunter in a turkey suit. I think I would actually be more supportive if that had actually happened.
It’s very easy to defend Joe. He has zero incentive not to pardon his son.
I feel like the president should look out for the interests of the country. But maybe I’m an idealist in that regard.
I feel like the president should look out for the interests of the country.
This has nothing at all to do with the interests of the country.
lol lol that sounded really naive, I’m sorry
Joe isn’t really president anymore.
Republicans in Congress are never going to want to limit excessive executive power if it’s only ever used in service of things they like.
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The pardon power was exactly for this. The entire investigation was a political witch hunt. It’s meant to prevent exactly this kind of mistreatment in the justice system. Just because the person happens to be the president’s son changes nothing except that people will fall into GOP propaganda they’ve been setting up for years, while they push this investigation.
Then pardon him for all other crimes, not what he pled guilty/ convicted on. Sends the wrong message to pardon him on everything.
Sentence Trump first.
It might come as a shock, but the president actually tends to pardon a lot of people at the end of their presidency, including people they don’t know
The Republicans literally spent their entire time wasting money on an ethics committee for Hunter Biden because they couldn’t find anything on biden
Id argue that when the government is spending millions to investigate a guy who isn’t even part of the government, it’s a political prosecution
He never even worked for the government
Unlike the trump family who are all being given positions of power and are openly abusing them
Irrespective, because of the Republican bs, Hunter is going to never be able to just do his time and live his life
Don’t forget that trump is also putting his own people in charge of positions of law too and he isn’t signing any ethics documents or selecting them ethically.
Even with a pardon, trump is a spiteful shit and i guarantee he’ll be attacking all of his political enemies
Id argue that when the government is spending millions to investigate a guy who isn’t even part of the government, it’s a political prosecution
I may not like it, but also kinda fair.
I don’t really care. The law is the law. The investigations were quite clearly politically motivated, trying to get to Joe by going after Hunter, but the trial was nothing but fair and the judiciary did not make a mistake in the trial or the sentencing. You cannot claim to be a supporter of the rule of law only when it’s convenient for you. This pardon undermines just about every bit of credibility the Democratic party had left. It’s not Biden breaking the rules or using his power for the good of the nation or the people, it’s a selfish abuse for the sake of keeping his son from being held accountable for the things he actually did.
I would not be surprised if Joe Biden supported some of the very same legislation that would have put his son behind bars back when he was still a senator. Dude was well known for being a “tough on crime” type of politician.
The judge straight up rejected the plea deal Hunter and the prosecutor agreed to. They absolutely bowed to political pressure.
You’ve got the Republicans who stole his laptop and illegally distributing his dick pics publicly, during the congressional hearings it’s ducking ridiculous. It’s basically revenge porn
I think you forgot about all the shit the Republicans did here.
If they did half the stuff they did as civilians, they’d be facing criminal charges in most countries. It’s actually far worse than you remember. And you’ve been talking shit about Biden for months looking at your History
And you’ve been talking shit about Biden for months looking at your History
Biden hasn’t been relevant since like July. How far back in my comment history did you have to read to find a single post where I’m critical of Biden?
You sure seem to have a lot of free time on your hands.
You’re literally talking shit about 5 posts ago / 3 weeks ago
So on the first page of your comments
Ie, didn’t really browse at all, but I expected it, which is why I looked
Quote the post, then. I suspect you have a reading comprehension problem if you think any of my posts that are even tangentially related to Biden in the last three weeks have been negative.
Have you ever smoked a joint? Have you been to a gun range? If so, you committed practically the same felony hunter did.
Literally fuck off. This whole thing was an obvious political ploy and you justifying it and defending it is pathetic. Rules exist to benefit society, when those same rules are used to damage society, must we still obey them? Your whole point is a joke.
Not practically, literally. They prosecuted a guy for marijuana under this law, and the only reason they couldn’t get him is they didn’t get evidence of “continued drug use”. That’s why that was so important in Hunter’s trial.
Have you ever smoked a joint? Have you been to a gun range? If so, you committed practically the same felony hunter did.
I’ve never done either of these things, but if I did, I sure wouldn’t lie about not having ever done it on a government form.
To be clear, I do not think that the law is fair or just, nor do I think that it’s application to Hunter in such a high profile case was warranted, but two wrongs don’t make a right. Republicans applying political pressure to Hunter Biden does not give Joe Biden carte blanche to be a hypocrite without some strong condemnations from people like myself.
The one thing I’ve learned from this thread is that nobody believes in objective justice. Trump supporters will say Trump’s felony convictions were politically motivated, Biden’s supporters will say Hunter’s felony convictions were politically motivated, and everybody is perfectly happy to discount witness testimony or a jury’s verdict so long as it suits their own subjective sense of justice, that as long as “their team” is winning, it’s right and just and fair.
My understanding is that he’s trying to prevent a witch hunt against his son when Trump takes office. I would have done the same thing
We fought against the Republicans to prevent misuse of executive powers exactly like this.
And we lost.
Americans want corruption. We voted explicitly for it.
No point in taking the high road or honoring decorum anymore. It doesn’t work to win elections in America.
I don’t want to live in an America where the government is run by people who are in a race to the bottom. I won’t be complicit in the corruption. It’s time to call a stone a stone.
I don’t want to live in an America where the government is run by people who are in a race to the bottom.
You already do.
I won’t be complicit in the corruption.
Have fun changing it. The majority of Americans just disagreed with you and voted for blatant corruption.
Based take, also great comment
It shocks me to see people defending this.
It shocks me that you did not 100% realize a year ago that this was exactly what was going to happen. It was a bullshit witch hunt charge that was only prosecuted because Hunter Biden was a high profile person.
when basically the only messaging we sent out during the entire 2024 campaign was that we were the morally superior choice. That someone who doesn’t respect the rule of law has no business being president.
And how exactly did that work out? I don’t think moral superiority is at all a helpful thing in politics.
Moral superiority is an important cultural and ideological component, it’s something to strive for. But if your political opponents keep bending rules to their favor, being civil seems like a complete waste of time. I agree with the other comments pointing out that this isn’t a win for voters at all.
It isn’t a win. But it isn’t a loss either. It just doesn’t matter.
Maybe it’s a step towards losing that holier than thou attitude and actually getting things done.
I get where you’re coming from, but the political opposition in America to democrats is now literally Nazis and white supremacists. Bidens action isn’t a win for voters in any sense, that’s the only objectionable part tbh.
Good. I hope the democrats play just as dirty and hard as the republicans going forward. We cannot be civil with barbarians.
I would also like them to do that too, but I would prefer they do it for something other than nepotism.
The left needs a populist movement like Bernie Sanders has been saying, the movements the left has seen prior to this point have tapered out because they didn’t get money backed support, and because they didn’t capture the hearts and mind of the comfortable democrat voter.
It’s had been an uphill battle till now, but maybe things will be different going forward because the republicans are going to peel back a lot of hard won rights and freedoms, and also degrade quality of life and standards of living with their health, economic and education policies.
…I don’t disagree, but I’m struggling to see how this is related to my comment. Are you replying to the right person?
Oh thanks, don’t recall which one I was replying to
Its not exactly revolutionary action, him pardoning his son is no win for the working class
him pardoning his son is no win for the working class
Who cares?
Anyone who has bothered to do their homework knows the Democrat party votes in favor of the working class WAY more often than Republicans. Hell, a few weeks before the election Trump and Musk did a televised interview where they jerked each other off about how much they hate unions and worker rights. Then working Americans voted them into power.
Now stupid Americans are going to get the corruption they deserve.
This is whataboutism, I am for neither blue or red, I hope they both burn. The only group I care for is the working class hense I care about nepotism within the political class.
The only group I care for is the working class
Then I’m sure you’ve done your homework and found out that Democrats historically vote in favor of the working class WAY more than Republicans, so you should vote Democrat if you care about the working class.
Because I promise you, a 3rd party isn’t viable in the United States, so your options are Democrat or Republican.
Not that you may have that option anymore going forward.
I’m a revolutionary socialist. I give no fucks to what little bread crumbs the dems brush off of the table. We have seen “democratic” politics play out, the centrist shift to the right.
Fuck that. Playing dirty in this instance does zilch to help you. Why the fuck would you support this? How does Hunter Biden being pardoned help you or anyone else at all? Democrats are okay to play dirty when it is done defending basic rights for Americans, not for the political elite. Hunter is a grifter and he should absolutely face the consequences.
Why the fuck would you support this?
Because I’m tired of watching the Dems be held to a higher standard and taking the high road and honoring decorum and losing to a corrupt as fuck party of traitors.
Americans voted for corruption, so now they’re going to get it. Hopefully we get so fucking corrupt it actually makes us act like adults and vote more intelligently. Doubt it. We’re probably done for. But that’s our own fault.
Again, I’m perfectly fine with Democrats playing dirty when it helps the country as a whole. They want to gerrymander to hell to get something like socialized health insurance passed or something like ranked choice voting? Have at it. This is just nepotism. It doesn’t help you. It doesn’t help the Democratic Party. Nobody should be for this.
This is just nepotism. It doesn’t help you.
Nepotism is standard in America. We don’t care enough to actually do anything about it. In fact, we just voted to make it worse. I’m aware it doesn’t help me. It helps a guy who was a solid president who doesn’t want his son to be in prison for non-violent crimes while a criminal president who openly stated he will target his political opponents sits in the Oval Office. Can’t blame him in the least. Especially since most presidents pardon people who support them at the end of their term. It’s normal in America.
If we didn’t like it, we could vote more intelligently. But we don’t, and we won’t.
I mean, I agreed already that this action isn’t a win for voters. I am just sick of people crying about Biden doing this selfish thing for his family when Republicans are literally supporting white supremacy. There’s too much money support for the white supremacy movement, the left it needs own comparable financing against this.
How does this combat that? Does this bring in funding to do that? It absolutely does not.
That pardon smells fishy, but I can understand that he does not want to leave his son exposed to imprisonment under Trump. Donald has shown time and again that he has no problems in going after weak persons to extract petty revenge.
I knew all along that Biden was going to pardon his son after the election. It doesn’t surprise or bother me. The firearms charge he was charged with was something that likely wouldn’t have been prosecuted if he was a regular person. I thought the tax evasion charge was much more serious but he wasn’t charged on that.
He was charged on the tax evasion charges. He plead guilty in September and was due to be sentenced on Dec 16th.
That’s funny because people say, despite the threats, he didn’t actually imprison anyone. Hillary comes to mind but I wasn’t paying attention enough to know who else he said should he locked up.
Trump ordered his attorney general to arrest Clinton and was ignored.
Because there were no actual prosecutable actions to convict anyone for, the republicans were just assembling one “special investigation” after another in an effort to waste everyone’s time. Come to think of it, most of the things conservatives scream about are akin to a child’s tantrum that you just try to mitigate until they’re quiet enough to sit down and get some work done…except we keep feeding them sugar and cartoons instead of putting their childish plantation asses to bed.
Good point so there were prosecutable actions to convict in Hunter’s case and he was pardoned by family. I guess that’s reasonable.
Honestly, who cares? Good for him.
Stop with the whataboutism, this is the political class acting in its own interest at no benefit to any of us. If anything this discredits the legal system and is to our detriment.
Republicans were literally showing his stolen dick pics during congressional hearings as revenge porn
If they weren’t in Congress, they would have been prosecuted in most countries
In practice, in most countries because of factors like this judges would have possibly pardoned him anyway
And no working class person is supporting that either. If our approach is flexible then we become as bad as the political class.
And to think, the legal system was without fault before this.
Very true and with actions like nepotism it becomes apparent.
This absolute sham of an investigation, that involved publicly sharing his nude photos in Congress, already did that.
discredits the legal system
You mean the system that has already been discredited by refusing to sentence a felon because he is a politician?
The legal system is a joke.
Yes that system. And now we’re cool with nepotism.
