“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” Trump asked in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
The President-elect, in the post, alluded to rioters who have been accused of storming and attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Of a truth, political watchers are worried that President Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter, will deepen an entanglement of politics and the rule of law, which they believe, has tarnished faith in American justice and is almost certain to worsen in Donald Trump’s, second term.
The move by Biden was a stunning development since Biden came to office vowing to restore the independence of the Justice Department, which had been eroded during Trump’s first term, and because he had repeatedly said he wouldn’t pardon his son.
Now, weeks before he leaves the White House, Biden has wielded presidential power to absolve his son ahead of sentencings later this month over a pair of gun and tax convictions that emerged from the due process of law.
Biden’s decision came days after special counsel Jack Smith, moved to dismiss the federal cases against Trump — over election interference and the hoarding of classified documents — on the grounds that presidents can’t be prosecuted.
Taken together, the convergence of legal controversies raises questions about the bedrock notion that underpins the system of justice in the United States that everyone — even presidents and their families — are equal before the law.
Until Sunday, Biden had not intervened in the cases against his son, and the White House always insisted that he wouldn’t, even though the shifting political environment caused by Trump’s election victory last month seemed likely to shift his calculations.
Politically, Biden’s reversal may be seen as a stain on his legacy and his credibility. It contributes to an ignominious end for a presidency that dissolved in his disastrous debate performance in June and that will now be remembered as much for opening the way for Trump’s return to the White House as evicting him four years ago.