In June, Hunter Biden was convicted of three felonies for lying on a mandatory disclosure form while purchasing a gun. President Biden’s son lied about using or being addicted to illegal drugs.
Last September, Hunter Biden was convicted of three felonies and six misdemeanors for tax offenses,
On June 6, President Biden announced he would not pardon Hunter or commute any sentence he might receive for his gun-related conviction.
The President’s announcement in June was disappointing. While it was clear that felonies had been committed, the prosecution of Biden seemed motivated by something other than the pursuit of justice. And Hunter Biden was a recovering addict. His crimes, by his own admission, were the byproduct of his drug and alcohol abuse.
On Sunday, President Biden pardoned his son for all of his felony convictions. Biden’s grant of Executive Clemency also for “those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024.” As a result of President Biden’s actions, Hunter Biden will not be going to jail and no longer has to worry about additional indictments or criminal proceedings relating to crimes he may have committed in the past.
Was President Biden wrong in pardoning his son? No.
The President’s justification rings true:
“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure through the process. Had the plea deal been held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.
No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”
Critics of the President’s pardon, and there are many, suggest that the prosecution of Donald Trump for offenses relating to the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol and for removing federal documents, including top secret documents, was also politically motivated. I disagree with this argument, but it doesn’t matter. The charges against Trump have been dropped. And, most importantly, two wrongs don’t make a right.
Critics of the pardon also suggest that Biden has made it easier for Trump to use the pardon policy inappropriately. That is malarky. Trump needs no help in finding friends and family to pardon. One of them, Charles Kushner, father-in-law to Ivanka Trump, was convicted of tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions, and witness tampering before being pardoned by Trump. Last week, Mr. Kushner was nominated to serve as U.S. Ambassador to France.
There are dozens of other examples from Trump’s first term in office that demonstrate that Trump has mastered the Art of the Pardon. On January 20, 2025, or shortly thereafter, Trump will pardon individuals he calls the “January 6 hostages,” meaning people jailed after violently assaulting the Capitol in a failed attempt to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election.
Nothing—and I mean nothing—Biden could do could justify Trump’s past pardons and, I expect, his future ones. And even if you disagree with Biden’s decision to pardon his son, two wrongs don’t make a right. Period. Full stop.
President Trump will do what he will do. As of noon January 20, 2025, President Trump will be free to issue pardons, as authorized under the Constitution. Let’s let those actions be judged on their merits.
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.
Chris Roberts says
Biden’s pardon of Hunter is the most sweeping in terms of time span and breadth (all crimes committed) by any President in US history, by a mile. That’s notable. Also notable is that the pardon starts the just before he took his board position with Burisma (with no special skills, experience, etc) to offer the company – just his name and influence. If he did nothing wrong other than the tax and gun application misstatement, why pardon him so broadly? Nothing to see here?
John Dean says
Sorry for the delay in responding to your questions–good, valid questions. My view is that the talk of “retribution” suggests that the Trump administration will aggressively look for crimes to charge their enemies with. I think that justifies the blanket pardon.
I understand that President Biden is considering additional broad pardons. I fear that people like Liz Cheney could be charged. That, based on my knowledge, would be justified.
All that having been said, you are forgiven if you disagree. You are right to imply that a dangerous precedent is being created of pardoning people who claim they did nothing wrong.
Thanks for the comment. I appreciate it.
THOMAS FANNON says
Oh please, Mr. Dean… Frankly, I don’t begrudge the pardon. I’d have pardoned my son, too, and I hope for his continued sobriety. But this was carefully orchestrated. The guilty pleas put a full stop to further testimony as to the Biden money trail, with the knowledge that a pardon would be forthcoming despite the months of media glorification of Mr. Biden’s respect for the ‘rule of law.’ And does the reference to ‘no reasonable person’ mean that the Biden Justice Department, which prosecuted the case, was composed of unreasonable persons, political opponents, and selective prosecution? Again, I don’t mind the pardon. I’m glad to be done with the whole affair.
John W. Pettit says
My understanding is that Hunter Biden pled guilty to tax evasion that occurred while he was sober and not in the throes of addiction. That hardly sounds like selective prosecution. And as for Mr. Kushner, he served his sentence and was only pardoned after that. Mr. Dean really has no good argument to explain a preemptive pardon for Hunter that goes back ten years in time.
David Lloyd says
Ya know, the President-elect was convicted of 34 Felonies!! And, he won’t serve a moment in jail. Compare his criminality with Biden’s son: huge!!! Yet, we are stuck with him for four years.
BARBARA DENTON says
In the State of NY you are not convicted until you are sentenced. Since the whole case was made up I would not hold my breath until the sentencing which is not going to happen.
BARBARA DENTON says
Wow! Biden lied on more than one occasion saying he would not pardon Hunter. This pardon encompasses almost 11 years. Maybe Hunter started using crack cocaine after his father ensnared him in a pay for play scheme which netted them millions of dollars. This is probably the beginning of many pardons to come to keep this whole crime family out of jail. Joe pardoned Hunter to keep himself out of trouble. He could care less what happens to Hunter.
I would imagine he is going to pardon James and himself before this whole thing is over with. Hunter can still be called in to testify and he cannot plead the 5th as he has been pardoned. If he does not tell the truth and it is proven he can be charged with obstruction.
Charles Kushner had already served his time when he was pardoned. I noticed you did not mention the prisoners from all the drug convictions for minor violations who received outlandish sentences whom Trump pardoned. The majority of these were black. The J6ers should be pardoned. It was a public demonstration against an election which was stolen. All of the lies of the J6 committee investigation and the illegal activities of certain committee members will be revealed.
The most important J6 investigation will be that of the unjustified shooting (murder) of Ashley Babbit. Mr. Byrd does not have a hole he can jump into to hide himself. If I were him I would be lawyering up. He is going to need it.
DeirdreLaMotte says
Gosh, the poor Kushner family. I am sure they appreciate your obsequious words. Kind of like thanking
Lord and Lady your appreciation for existing. The laugh is on you, poor dear.
Actually, it is so comical. Thanks for the laugh Barbara!!
Sam Willson says
If it hadn’t been for Hunter smoking crack and leaving his laptop at the shop, the people of this great nation might still be in the dark as to the absolute corruption and censorship infecting us. He is a hero and deserves a full pardon!
Liz Freedlander says
In the face of the incoming revenge administration, I’d have pardoned my son too.
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the piece. I would do the same thing as well.