On the menu today: This isn’t just about Hunter; this is about Joe. A review of White House transcripts reveals ten times that either President Biden or White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphatically assured the public that there was absolutely no chance that the president would use his authority to pardon his son Hunter for his various crimes — six felonies combined, six misdemeanors. This was predictable, and predicted, because no matter how many times Joe Biden looked you in the eye or television camera and gave you his “word as a Biden,” the overwhelming majority of us knew it was — to use one of the president’s terms — “malarkey.” To be a Biden is to be above the law, and that’s been clear for a long time.
You know whose life got a lot easier late last night after news of the Hunter Biden pardon broke? Trump’s choice to be the next FBI director, Kash Patel. Because Senate Democrats are going to argue that the country can’t have partisan politics and personal loyalties and connections to the president mucking around in the justice system. And Senate Republicans are just going to laugh.
Hey, look at the bright side, you probably didn’t stick your neck out arguing, “People who insist Biden will pardon Hunter after specifically ruling it out are telling on themselves. . . . They can’t imagine someone acting on principle and keeping his word.”
Q: Thank you. If I can go back to the first question of the briefing. I know you said not a lot has changed since yesterday and that it’s a personal matter, but from presidential perspective, is there any possibility that the President would end up pardoning his son?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No.
Q: Well, is there (inaudible)?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I just said no. I just answered. [Emphasis added.]
Q: And just a brief second one. Would the President pardon or commute his son if he’s convicted?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I’ve answered this question before. It was asked of me not too long ago, a couple of weeks ago. And I was very clear, and I said no. [Emphasis added.]
Q: One more on this. Only because you’ve said it before, I just want to re-up in — in light of these new charges. You’ve said before that the President would not pardon his son. Is that still the case?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Nothing has changed. That is still the case. [Emphasis added.]
President Biden, in an interview with ABC News’s David Muir, June 6, 2024:
Muir: As we sit here in Normandy, your son Hunter is on trial. And I know that you cannot speak about an ongoing federal prosecution, but let me ask you, will you accept the jury’s outcome, their verdict, no matter what it is?
Biden: Yes.
David: And have you ruled out a pardon for your son?
Biden: Yes. [Emphasis added.]
A written statement from the president, June 11, 2024:
As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal. [Emphasis added.]
Karine Jean-Pierre, June 12, 2024:
Q: So, you’re not ruling out that he would commute the sentence?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, what I’m saying is that the President — the Pre- — I have not spoken to the President about this. And what I’m saying is he was asked about a pardon. He was asked about — he was asked about the trial specifically. And he answered it very clearly, very forthright. As we know, the sentencing hasn’t even been scheduled yet. I don’t have anything beyond what the President said. He’s been very clear about this. [Emphasis added.]
President Biden, during a press conference in Fasano, Italy, June 13, 2024:
With regard to the question regarding the family, I’m extremely proud of my son Hunter. He has overcome an addiction. He is — he’s one of the brightest, most decent men I know. And I am satisfied that — I’m not going to do anything. I sa- — I said I’d abide by the jury decision, and I will do that. And I will not pardon him. [Emphasis added.]
Karine Jean-Pierre, August 14, 2024:
Q: You’ve said from the podium that President Biden would not pardon his son. If Vice President Harris is elected, would he tell her also to not pardon his son?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I mean, that’s a hypothetical that I — look, the president — I can speak for the president, and he said he would not pardon his son. And I’m just going to leave it there. [Emphasis added.]
Karine Jean-Pierre, September 5:
Q: Good. How are you? On Hunter Biden changing his plea, does the White House have a comment at all? And does that change the president’s calculus on pardoning his son?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, on your first question, I — I’m not able to com- — to comment at this time. On your second question — which was, I guess, part of one question — it’s no. It’s still no. [Emphasis added.]
Karine Jean-Pierre, November 7:
Q: Secondly, his son, Hunter, is also up for being sentenced next month. Does the president have any intention of pardoning him?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no. [Emphasis added.]
That adds up to ten times that either President Biden or his primary spokeswoman stood before the country and assured Americans that he would not use his pardon power to effectively wash away Hunter Biden’s convictions on tax evasion and gun charges.
And then last night . . . “Eh, never mind.”
In June, a jury convicted Hunter Biden of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user, and illegally having the gun for eleven days. Then in September, Hunter Biden pled guilty to three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses, including, “willfully failing to pay his 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 taxes on time, despite having access to funds to pay some or all of these taxes,” and “filing false business deductions in order to reduce the very substantial tax liability he faced as of February 2020.” Those deductions were money spent on “exotic dancers” and “escorts.”
(Jill Biden, October 27, 2020: “Decency is on the ballot.”)
One more example for the “it turns out” election: As it turns out, Joe Biden was perfectly willing to use his presidential power to pardon criminals to protect his son all along.
The president even had the audacity to claim, “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.”
If you’re issued a full pardon, you are indeed interfering with the justice system’s decision-making. Sure, you allowed the Justice Department to proceed, but what did it matter? You had that full pardon in your back pocket the whole time.
Of course, President Biden just issued a written statement last night; he didn’t answer any questions about this decision. He then flew to Luanda, Angola.
Roughly one year ago, I wrote, “There are a lot of men who go into strip clubs. There are significantly fewer who get the stripper pregnant. There are a lot of men who get a woman pregnant unintentionally. There are fewer who get into long, messy battles about paying child support for the child of that unexpected pregnancy, and exceptionally few who are legally permitted to pay child support in the form of paintings. There are many men who have lost a beloved brother. There are very few who promptly started an extramarital affair with their late brother’s widow.”
Remember, President Biden described his son as “one of the brightest, most decent men I know.”
In the summer of 2023, when Hunter’s daughter Navy was four, we were told that President Biden finally recognized that he had seven grandchildren, not six. The following December, the Biden family abandoned its tradition of hanging stockings by a fireplace in the White House for all the president’s grandchildren.
It is as if, in every conceivable circumstance, year by year, Hunter Biden chose the single-most destructive option available. If almost anyone else on Earth made decisions like these, they would end up in the direst of circumstances, probably either behind bars or dead. But Hunter Biden has managed to escape the worst consequences, over and over and over again, because he’s been the son of a powerful senator, then the vice president, then a likely presidential candidate, and then the president.
Last night, Nate Silver fumed, “Why do you think Trump(ism) gains a following? Well, actually, that’s complicated. But part of it is because elites of all political stripes are absolutely out for themselves and complete moral hypocrites. And Democrats stake a claim to moral superiority when Trump does not.”
ADDENDUM: In case you missed it over the weekend, despite the denials from campaign-finance managers, the Harris campaign may have finished with $20 million in debt at the end of the race after all — despite raising roughly $2.15 billion once you throw in the money raised by the Biden campaign beforehand.
Hey, maybe, just maybe, the Democratic Party isn’t led by good, honest, honorable, and ethical people.
Reprinted with permission from The National Review by Jim Geraghty.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
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