With just a few short weeks left in his presidency, speculation is swirling whether or not President Joe Biden will use his executive power to pardon political friends (or foes) before he leaves the White House.
So it begs the question. Will he, or won’t he?
Well, one of the top mainstream voices of the Democratic Party has revealed a list of pardons for Biden, and some of the names will shock you.
Ana Navarro, regular cohost of ABC’s “The View,” called on Biden to issue a handful of “pre-emptive” pardons before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
At the top of the list should be no suprise.
It’s his son, Hunter Biden.
The rest of the list, which is seemingly fueled by theories that Trump would go after these individuals once he becomes president, is more surprising.
Navarro first said that Biden should go ahead with a pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, who has already been convicted on several gun and tax-related charges.
She then claimed that he should offer “pre-emptive pardons” to Vice President Kamala Harris, January 6th Committee members, and former Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), and to special prosecutor Jack Smith because she believed Trump was likely to try to have them prosecuted (her words).
Dear @JoeBiden, pardon Hunter before these clowns go after him to take revenge on you.
And while you’re at it, give pre-emptive pardons to Liz Cheney, Kamala Harris, Adam Kinzinger, Jack Smith…and anybody else who may be on the enemies list of the promised retribution.
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) November 14, 2024
“Dear @JoeBiden, pardon Hunter before these clowns go after him to take revenge on you. And while you’re at it, give pre-emptive pardons to Liz Cheney, Kamala Harris, Adam Kinzinger, Jack Smith … and anybody else who may be on the enemies list of the promised retribution.”
However, critics have pointed out the fact that a pre-emptive pardon would essentially be an admission that some crime had been committed by the person receiving it.
The case of Hunter Biden is more clear considering he’s already been found guilty of federal law. The others on the list, not so much.
Early last week, Navarro called for Biden to pardon Hunter arguing that because Trump was also convicted of felonies, his election win was like the American people issuing him a pardon of sorts.
“This is what I’m going to tell Joe — Joe, since they’re talking smack about you anyways, you know what? Maybe pardon Hunter. Pardon Hunter because we, basically America just pardoned a criminal who was convicted of felonies,” she said.
“He’s probably going to pardon some of the folks from Jan. 6, those insurrectionists. So, you know what? It’s your son. He probably wouldn’t have been prosecuted if his last name wasn’t Biden. Baby, you got 2 1/2 months. I’m good with you pardoning Hunter.”
However, the elder Biden has insisted that he will not pardon his son.
But, Trump, during an interview in late October said he’s open to pardoning Hunter Biden if he’s reelected (which he was). A significant reversal after years of lobbing attacks at the legal issues faced by the president’s son.
Trump says he will consider pardoning Hunter Biden.pic.twitter.com/OiVOAmvRMz
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 24, 2024