President Joe Biden issued a sweeping pardon to his son Hunter Biden on Sunday, drawing harsh criticism from both Republicans and some Democrats over its extraordinary breadth and timing.
Monday, a stunning 30-second video of leading Democrats claiming that “No one is above the law” went viral immediately after the news broke (below).
Biden’s “full and unconditional pardon” covers all possible federal offenses his son, Hunter, may have committed from January 2014 through December 2024 — a shocking wide pardon that mirrors only the scope of Gerald Ford’s pardon of former President Richard Nixon.
“I have never seen language like this in a pardon document that purports to pardon offenses that have not apparently even been charged, with the exception of the Nixon pardon,” Margaret Love, a former Department of Justice U.S. pardon attorney, told Politico.
“Even the broadest Trump pardons were specific as to what was being pardoned,” she said.
Republican lawmakers quickly connected the pardon to Biden and other Democrats previous statements that “no one is above the law.”
Rep. Steve Scalise called it “the latest in their long coverup scheme,” while House Oversight Chairman James Comer said Biden “has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities.”
Even Democrats expressed concern that Biden’s pardon went way too far.
“While as a father I certainly understand President Biden’s natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country,” said Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
“This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies,” Rep. Greg Stanton, D-A.Z., said.
IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler, who investigated Hunter’s tax crimes, also blasted the decision.
“President Biden has the power to put his thumb on the scales of justice for his son, but at least he had to do it with a pardon explicitly for all the world to see rather than his political appointees doing it secretly behind the scenes.”
Biden defended his decision, claiming his son was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”
The pardon covers Hunter’s federal tax and gun charges convictions, plus any potential future charges related to illegal foreign business dealings that may still be uncovered.
President-elect Donald Trump connected the pardon to his own plans for January 6 defendants, asking on Truth Social, “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages?”
Trump’s incoming communications director Steven Cheung promised Trump would “fix” the justice system upon returning to office.
Legal experts note the pardon’s timing coincides with Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel as FBI director, who had previously criticized Hunter Biden’s original federal plea deal as “unusually lenient.”
On social media, video of Democratic lawmakers saying that “no one is above the law” and a video of the mainstream media saying that Biden would never pardon his son quickly went viral. Take a look —
Democrats: "All Americans are equal, but some are more equal than others."
— The Horn News (@ReadTheHornNews) December 2, 2024
SUPERCUT!
Corporate media: Obviously Biden would never pardon Hunter pic.twitter.com/gJRhASCAUs
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 2, 2024