President Biden pardons his son Hunter Biden
Summary
President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden, reversing his prior stance against using executive clemency.
The pardon covers Hunter’s federal gun conviction and tax evasion guilty plea, sparking political controversy.
Biden cited political attacks and a “miscarriage of justice” as reasons for his decision, emphasizing his son’s recovery from addiction and the targeting of his family.
Critics argue the move undermines the judicial process, while supporters view it as within Biden’s constitutional powers.
This decision shields Hunter from potential prison time as Biden nears the end of his presidency.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/joe-biden-issue-pardon-son-hunter-biden-rcna182369Open linkView original on lemmy.world743
Comments674
The prior president pardoned a family member who was blackmailing and raping people, then appointed the same criminal to be ambassador to France. I don't give a fuck what President Biden does now. We're a country of criminals and oligarchs now.
Always have been.
… it’s a big club and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club…
Same club they beat you over the head with
You can be a part of my club. Only rule is we're good to each other and everyone else, except those who aren't good to us.
"I have no principles"
"This guy keeps punching me in the face but I think punching is morally wrong so I'll just let him break my nose."
This is exactly what they say about you too justify what they're doing.
It's amazing how quickly all the pride in our founding, American values, principles, etc are just discarded the moment one team loses an election.
Bro they spent 5 years talking about adrenochrome and "demonrats" space lasers I'd be surprised if they could pronounce my name. I don't need to do anything to trigger them, so why even dance around?
You cometely missed my point. You're using the same shitty logic they are. "Both sides" are doing the same thing.
Principles don't win in America anymore. We just proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt a month ago.
So now it's just "your dictator" vs. "their dictator" eh?
Nah. I just want the party that has a history of voting in favor of working class Americans and being better for our economy to do what they need to do to get elected in America. Which is lie, cheat, and steal.
This has to be one of the stupidest things I've ever read.
Probably because you haven't read very much.
Which part specifically though?
The FACT that Democrats have a voting history proving they regularly vote in favor of the working class? The FACT that Democrats are historically better for our economy and the data to prove that exists? Or the brand new FACT that to win an election in the United States you have to lie, cheat, and steal?
The part where you think a party willing to cheat and lie will hold to liberal democracy ideals.
Biden cannot do any of those.
Senate makes it's own rules. Biden doesn't make them. Parlimentarian is chosen by a house committee. Number if SCOTUS justices is set by law, not presidential decree.
It's incredibly sad to see Democrats embrace hypocrisy with pride regarding a simple and obvious issue like this.
Trump will have a field day pardoning Jan 6 criminals with this additional political cover from Biden.
He was going to do those J6 pardons anyways, don't kid yourself. He didn't need "additional cover".
*Biden was going to do this pardon anyway, don't kid yourself believing his constant lies.
Conservatives keep breathing air too, did they need permission from liberals to do that too?
Don't mistake every action for a reaction. This is a mess but they were gonna do this and worse always, anyways, they already have.
Don't mistake hypocrisy for meaningful principles.
No silly, he was going to have Kamala do it.
Too bad that that bridge has sailed....
A sycophant is much better than a nepotist
Lol and that's why you voted for Trump, right?
Like he needed that cover. Remember how he pardoned war criminals in his last days back in 2020?
Hypocrisy is a victimless crime right
First part is true. It is sad and even a pretty respectable president has taken a fuck it attitude toward nepotism. Second part of your statement is silly though. Trump is shameless criminal, no amount of "cover" is needed - he was going to pardon those traitors regardless.
If democracy ever re-emerges in some other time or place, hopefully they won't give this power to presidents. It's ridiculous and heavily abused throughout history.
Why don't you cool it with the American exceptionalism? There are lots of countries that are still democratic, and have been more democratic than the US for many decades.
Just because US democracy has failed doesn't mean it's failed globally. Sit down for a bit, shut up, fix your own shit, try not to start an illegal war for a while, and then re-join us when you're ready.
Where? France? South Korea? Germany? India? Wake up - democracy crumbling isn't an isolated Amerocentric phenomenon.
Trump has now won twice because of Dem incompetence and hypocrisy.
Dems moving to the right is not irrelevant to Trump's existence in office.
I love when people use Trump as a litmus test for good behavior and how openly hypocrisy is displayed like a badge of honor.
Go ahead and ride your high horse on that moral high road, just don't trip over all the corpses.
Go ahead and wear your hypocrisy like a badge of honor.
yeah well you go and simmer your hypocrisy on a medium heat until it toasts up golden brown
More word salad please.
Oh shut the fuck up.
The Supreme Court undermined the judicial system.
I really appreciate that you took the time to bold it, made me chuckle 😁 I feel you though 💙
Why did Biden say he had full faith in the judicial process this entire year until now then?
I would hope he was lying. I can't imagine he's so stupid he can't see.
I wouldn't be surprised if he can't see or understand the situation very well. The man is ancient.
Who says liars can't also be stupid?
True. Just look at Drump.
Exactly.
He probably didn't expect the US to elect a fascist....
He wasn't around in 2016 huh.
Well, there's something to be said for that election... 2016 I honestly figured Trump would be no difference than Clinton, in all honestly. They are both wealthy oligarchs, who look to solidify their interests.
Obviously, that was not true.
The votes came in. The country chose corruption and “fuck it” politics. At this point Joe just wants to protect himself / family from the coming retribution administration.
I agree, he should push the limit of what’s possible to force the Supreme Court to rule on the actions, call their bluff, lay bare the hypocrisy officially for all the world to see.
Dems have always been cowards :/
Testing the supreme court could also result in certain dictatorial powers for Trump. At the moment they are only theoretical.
He should have threatened to start jailing Senators as an official act unless they pass a law/amendment saying that he can't.
He still can, in fact.
He pardoned himself in his mind, same way Trump declassified those documents.
Exactly! The same way Trump locked Hillary up in prison after he won in 2016 right.
History has now shown us that there was evidently no one on the ballot who wasnt a "corruption and fuck it politics" candidate.
I’ve always found it absurd that presidents possess the authority to grant pardons. It trivializes our judicial system and undermines its integrity. This power should not be vested in the presidency.
It's supposed to be a check on the judicial. Are you suggesting it should be vested elsewhere or just not at all? I wouldn't remove any checks on this court personally
How does this check work?
I mean if you're president is an unethical convict, like the next one, it obviously doesn't work as intended.
The judiciary should be entirely separated from the political as per the trias politica.
I mean that's what it was meant for, to pardon political victims of the court. None of it was meant to work with political parties though like Washington(?) warned though. But none of it was meant for that
The president is then in turn checked by the legislature, who hold the power to impeach and remove.
Just that everything that works in theory stops working when you have 250 years to break it.
Honestly, I think it's more of a practical matter. Even if they didn't have explicit pardon power, whoever's in charge of the executive has effective pardon powers by simply denying to carry out the orders of the court (see Jackson's behavior which lead to the trail of tears).
At least by making it official it's a lot more clear what's going on, and maybe they had hoped this would lead to electoral consequences for those who abused it?
He said he wouldn't but at this point Joe might as well YOLO idk anymore.
It would be cool if he went out in a blaze of glory that wasn't self serving. Like legalizing weed, arming Ukraine, and just generally trying to fuck shit up for Trump before he gets in.
this, except 3 years ago?
four years of dark brandon would have gotten democrats the trifecta.
A blaze of glory would be utilizing his Supreme-Court-granted powers of presidential immunity and officially act to save, at bare minimum, the country.
Right, there is always that elephant in the room.
He did approve long range missiles for Ukraine. So, he kind of did.
He can't pardon those things. He can improve them, but nothing like the absolute power of the pardon.
Don't forget getting rid of the penny and axing daylight saving time. 100% president of the century if he executive ordered these things.
I don't think it's so much YOLO as recognizing that Hunter would be a target of Trump once he assumes office.
It seems to me to be a form of self defense. People do things that they otherwise wouldn't do when the alternative is bad enough.
Lol.
Most of these comments are a great example of how stupid Americans are.
All my life Dems have been held to a higher standard. I've watched them take the high road so many times while the Republicans went low. Continued to honor decorum when Republicans refused.
And guess what happened?
Americans told them to go fuck themselves and voted for blatant Republican corruption instead.
And now there's a bunch of comments in here whining about how Democrats are corrupt for doing this.
Go fuck yourselves. Clowns.
A lot of people here missing the point. We don't care about this because Hunter was the target of a witch hunt. The actual "crimes" weren't impactful at all. The Republicans literally spent 8 years dragging him through the mud, digging for anything that he could be charged with, just because who his dad is. And Hunter didn't even touch politics in the slightest.
The gun charge is the moral equivalent of crucifying someone for having pirated music on their hard drive. It was a nothing crime, never enforced, and the only reason it was in this case was because they happened to find something they could latch onto.
I don't know anything about the tax evasion conviction. If it was serious, then sure, fuck him. But I'd want them going after every politician AND their family with equal vigor. But guess what? They aren't.
That's why most of us don't really care. The man is not important. He holds no position of power, nor has he expressed any intent to. He is not important, except as a whipping boy for their propaganda. And a pardon for such preposterous prosecution is fine with me.
He was convicted in court by a jury of his peers same as every other American under charges would see. He wasnt convicted in some political "witch hunt" process in congress, nor was he convicted by an activist judge. The congressional investigation went nowhere and was shut down. Hunters convictions carried a sentence of 15 to 21 months. If his conviction is unfair and needs to be resisted then the entire system of justice in america is unfair.
thats not your call to make. This is just another case of hard justice being for the little people only, and you seem to be cheering that on. How low can you go, man. Biden spent a lifetime banging tables pretending to be a tough on crime guy. You seem to have forgotten all of that.
This never should have been before a jury.
The prosecution had agreed to drop the gun charge as apart of a plea bargain (because it's a crime that is only ever used as an add-on for violent crimes). But the fucking judge rejected the plea deal after Biden had admitted guilt.
That's bullshit and 100% should have been thrown out.
I'm not a lawyer, but I thought the way it worked was that the prosecutor offers the plea bargain and the accused accepts but it's still up to the judge's discretion whether that accepted plea bargain goes through, meaning that the system was working as it always works and it wasn't some sort of special persecution deal.
The judge almost never throws out a plea bargain - and it's almost unheard of for one to throw it out for not being harsh enough.
They're more often rejected for thing like a plea bargain where the case should be dismissed entirely or the defendant has a very good chance of winning or securing a lesser conviction at trial. Judges are supposed to err on the side of leniency.
Rejecting a plea bargain because a charge that is almost never prosecuted is being dismissed is judicial malpractice.
The gun crime he was convicted for is one that anyone who has ever smoked pot is guilty of if they ever touched a gun before quitting pot entirely.
If a resident of Colorado eats a gummy legally and has a gun in the safe at home, they've committed the same crime.
If Conservatives cared about this law, all they would have to do is pull dispensary ID logs and probably a tenth or more of all gun applicants could be arrested. But they don't do that because people don't care, and they just want another law they can apply selectively.
So was Trump. But he got away with it and is now President. Hell, he didn't even have to go through the process for most of his crimes. Just bypassed it all.
Nothing else matters now. The rest of your comment is irrelevant. The justice system is irrelevant.
Free Hunter!!!
First, did Bidden just notice that his son was a target of a "witch hunt" after the election? Or was he just lying before?
And second, Bidden literally controlled the DOJ for 4 years. It was his call whether to go after other corrupt politicians or not.
I think Biden was holding out hope in the institutions and people of America and was sorely disappointed, like a lot of us, so is doing what he has to, like a lot of us.
Bingo.
Biden was waiting to see if America's institutions and citizens would hold up and pass the test. They did not. They failed spectacularly, in fact. A criminal became president and will now not be held accountable for his crimes, and citizens voted explicitly for that corruption.
I'd be damned if I was sitting president if I would let my son be in prison for non-violent crimes when a criminal who openly stated he would target his political opponents sits in the Oval Office.
Clearly taking the high road doesn't work in America, so why the fuck should Biden continue doing so?
It is amazing to me how people will make excuses for a lying politician that even he did not bother to make.
What's amazing to me is that you people fall for the rage bait every time.
Crocodile tears for this rich shitty little partier silver spooned brat, but anyone else convicted by a jury of their peers should go to jail where they belong, huh.
Then he's an idiot who had no business in office in the first place.
But he's not an idiot and he's been in government for decades. On top of that, he lived through January 6th like the rest of us.
He just didn't give a shit.
It’s common practice for outgoing presidents to wrap up loose ends like this. Late term pardons are not a new thing.
Yeah, but he's a Democrat, so he's held to higher standards than Republicans.
If a Republican did this you probably wouldn't have even heard about it.
Do we need any better example than what just happened to know that Democrats are held to astronomically high standards, while Republicans can basically do whatever the fuck they want without repercussion?
She had to be flawless and he got to be lawless.
He did not just leave it for later, he actively lied saying he will not pardon Hunter.
And?
You gonna leave your son in prison while a criminal president who explicitly stated he'd target his political opponents sits in the Oval Office?
Republicans just blatantly lied their way into total power and you're over here whining about a Democrat lying about getting his son out of prison for non-violent crimes on his way out of office?
Your priorities are utterly fucked.
I can simultaneously "whine" about multiple things. I guess I am talented at "whining".
Also, this kind of shit is part of the reason why that orange won in the first place. Democrats putting up a marginally better candidate and pretending to be saviors of the Earth.
The calories you burned typing your complaint about Biden pardoning Hunter are wasted calories. It's so irrelevant and small compared to the avalanche of bullshit we've already dealt with and will be dealing with for the foreseeable future, that it's comical to even consider. The fact that Trump made it abundantly clear he'd be targeting his political opponents is all the justification needed for Biden to pardon Hunter.
And no, Democrats putting up a "marginally" better candidate is not how the orange dipshit won. First of all, a successful prosecutor with a doctorate in law and a significant political resume isn't "marginally" better than a twice impeached convicted felon and rapist who instigated a violent insurrection and illegally attempted to overturn an election. I don't know what dimension someone has to live in to think there's only a "marginal" difference there. Secondly, the orange dipshit is president because Americans are STUPID. Because Americans don't do their homework. Americans don't lookup voting histories so they can see that Democrats are way better about voting in favor of the working class. They don't look up the conviction histories to find out Democrats have WAY, WAY less convicted criminals who have served in their ranks than Republicans. Americans don't grasp that you aren't just voting for the person, but the party. Donald Trump is president....again....because Americans are STUPID. Not because Democrats are only "marginally" better.
Meh, I can use fewer calories.
Can't argue there.
You literally vote for specific people in the US, unlike in many countries where you vote for parties. That's the whole point of your incredibly flawed representatives system. Saying people should vote Harris because of her party is like saying people should buy the terrible and useless apple vision because other apple products are good.
To most people, those sound like red flags, not advantages.
I mean, yeah. Americans are stupid. But then again, why should anyone believe those accusations if democrats argue lying is perfectly fine and not an issue?
I mean, true, but does it matter? The new president spits out dozens of lies daily and he got voted in. If anything, this is what the people want, someone who lies to them.
If it doesn't matter, why is everyone angry at the people who didn't vote? :D
Because they enabled this system where nothing matters?
This, I think, is what bothers me. I understand the reasoning but still.... The pardoning, no surprise. The lying, makes me a bit sad. I understand the reasoning but it still makes me sad.
Guess he changed his mind.
Im uninformed so I know nothing of Hunter's supposed crimes. Can I get a quick rundown?
If you're being serious, the gun charge is that he checked some box on a gun application stating that he didn't have any drug addiction problems. IIRC, it was after he got his shit together and was sober.
I didn't follow the tax evasion charge.
I honestly have no in depth knowledge of any of this stuff
If you can't even be bothered to read an article about it why should any weight be given to your opinion. The tax fraud was 1.4 million dollars and he actively lied on his returns to avoid payment. He effectively stole over a million dollars, fuck him and all tax cheats.
Ok. What part of that conflicts with what I said?
If he cheated on taxes, then fuck him. But I think it's generally assumed that these fucks all cheat on their taxes. So if you're going to go after one, then go after all of them.
And again, he's not actually a politician, and was only targeted because of who his dad is. If you don't see that as abuse of authority as revenge against his dad, then there's no point in talking to you.
Also, if you read the fucking article yourself, it never goes into details on the tax charges.
There is no "if," he did cheat on his taxes for over a million dollars. Yes, go after all of them! The only reason Hunter got away for so long was because of who his dad is, so kind of karmic that it came back around for the same reason. Hunter received far more leniency for a long time for drugs, gun, and financial crimes due to his wealth and families influence and Joe Biden was instrumental in making sure poor people who do the same thing get punished harshly. Until it was HIS son, then all the excuses came out.
This article does not, but none of this is new. We have known about these crimes for years. You displayed absolutely zero curiosity about what crimes he did in your haste to whitewash Biden's hypocrisy. We will not get better politicians or leaders until we demand it.
I do not care that Hunter was not a politician, though that never prevented him from getting paid off his family name and only avoided punishment for so long because of who his father is. I do not care why the charges come about, these rich fucks need to pay. Maybe if the Democrats were willing to see that the rich and powerful actually face consequences Trump and all these right wing grifters might have been dealt with before they came to power. But back when Trump and Kushner were donating to Democratic campaigns none of them managed to give a shit. We should strive for a higher standard of morality than Donald fucking Trump.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden :
"Biden was a founding board member of BHR Partners, a Chinese investment company, in 2013, and later served on the board of Burisma Holdings, one of the largest private natural gas producers in Ukraine, from 2014 until his term expired in April 2019. He has worked as a lobbyist and legal representative for lobbying firms, a hedge fund principal, and a venture capital and private equity fund investor. "
"Biden was hired to help Burisma with requesting assistance from the U.S government to expand its business and corporate governance best practices,"
I'm not a fan of the nepotism and I don't plan on defending it. Biden claims he needs to do this to keep his family safe from an unfair system. If he's going to do stuff like this and acknowledge our institutions are flawed how about do stuff for the American people, Ukraine, or anyone without the last name Biden. The peaceful transfer of power to fascism, but his family got theirs leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
No shit, he had 4 years to do these
He's got 48 days. It's time for Joe to get writing.
Reading through these comments and seeing people excuse this because trump is worse validates the race-to-the-bottom strategy that republicans and democrats cooperate on. Republicans will keep lowering the bar while democrats will continue hovering slightly above that bar as their only differentiator and we're all on the ride on the way down.
The gun crime is bullshit. That law isn't enforced on anyone. It's also probably unconstitutional if you follow the conservative understanding of that amendment (which is complete bullshit, but that's beside the point).
Tax evasion, sure. That maybe shouldn't be pardoned but also it's only an issue because he's the president's son. I don't dismiss this, but also I recognize that it's mostly bullshit Republicans drummed up because they couldn't get anything on Biden.
I will point out to every conservative who defends Trump who says anything about this though. Trump is literally a convicted felon, and multiple cases are being dismissed because he was elected. If they think Hunter shouldn't get off free, then they better have some strong reasons Trump should.
This pardon also stops any investigation into the "10% for the big guy" email.
God's getting a cut?
You do have to remember that most of us didn't give a fuck about this supposed crime to begin with. I mean who Among Us hasn't lied to the government about our drug history?
Also should mention that it's clearly unconstitutional by the way.
Me. I've yet to be given the opportunity... but I'll be happy to lie about if it comes up.
Go buy a firearm, while using legal cannabis products.
Boom! You're now a felon!
Then they should fight it legally and win. That would also set precedent for others who aren't rich and powerful.
It would also be amusing to watch liberals making a 2A argument in court.
There is no winning in court, if you are an enemy of Trump.
#7thgradedeep
No, its just being a realist. Trump owns the federal courts, since he can just appeal to his hand selected SCOTUS. Who have already ruled everything Trump does is legal.
The cover up is the crime. Why did the FBI spread false Russian Propaganda misinformation?
Gun charge "while using illegal drugs".
Tax fraud.
c'mon now, fuck all that shit. 100% political, "witch hunt", and all that. I would have thought less of Joe had he not done this.
I wish that my Dad loved me as much as Joe Biden loves his Sons.
Eric Trump, is that you?
I get it now, you simp for Biden because of your daddy issues.
Awwwww muffin.....
Clearly your Dad didn't love you either. (Hugs)
"he only broke some minor laws"
I don't feel like searching, but can you find such zealous prosecution for a nobody for these crimes?
Strong argument.
Man I thought blue MAGA was just a stupid meme but I guess it’s real. Fuck the Democratic Party, I’m out.
You can't really think that anyone gives a shit about Hunter Biden and his schoolyard antics in a vacuum.
I care about the wealthy and powerful being above the law while working class people get the shaft. Democrats claimed to be concerned about this too. But I guess it was all partisan theatre.
But the only reason he was being prosecuted was because of his connection to Biden. An average working class person would never have been charged with this crime in the first place.
This is the opposite of what happened. Hunter was only prosecuted because he was BELOW THE LAW. An ordinary person wouldn't have been prosecuted for buying a gun.
Um no?
Don't tell me if you knew the threat to democracy who had a personal vendetta against you and your child was following you in office and has threatened and made blind accusations multiple times that you would NOT pardon them. Biden did the right thing as a parent and a mildly objectionable thing on a moral standpoint politically which... just fuck off with that. I don't wanna hear about morality from the party that constantly defends rapist and child abusers
I don't want to hear about morality regarding biden and his full-throated support of genocide. He said he wouldn't pardon his son and that he believed in the rule of law, but when it comes down to it, he goes ahead and pardons him because he ultimately knows the institutions he has fought so hard to defend are full of shit. Us peasants are still supposed to be held under the power of these institutions, though, and he has done nothing to change that. In fact, he's played a big hand in making it as bad as it is now with his tough on crime stance.
I and almost certainly evey other non-psycho father would have done the same.
No, you don't seem to understand. The race to the bottom strategy was a Republican thing. But now that we know that's how you win in America, some of us are supporting that strategy for Democrats as well.
Gotta adapt to your environment to succeed.
I'm on board with that, but democrats refuse to take advantage of their power for our sake. He's just doing this for his own sake. This selfishness is what allowed trump a second term, since democrats would've had a much better chance if biden stepped down earlier and allowed for a proper primary.
I agree that they could do more. But I also acknowledge that they've done WAY more for us than the Republican party has. I don't vote for perfect. I vote for better.
I'm ok with him pardoning his son. First of all, Trump threatened to go after his political opponents if he won. That's a threat to Biden's son. So Biden did something about it. Secondly, Biden was, by all metrics, a solid president. And Americans told him and his party to fuck off and re-hired a twice impeached convicted felon and rapist who incited an insurrection and illegally attempted to overturn an election. We treated Biden like shit. He doesn't owe us anything additional. I think it's fine to take this small victory to protect his son from unwarranted threats and then retire.
I agree. But I also have a pretty low opinion of Americans, so I don't know if it would have mattered in the end.
It is wild how they willing to defend their side no matter what. This is absolute abuse of power regardless of detail. Again, it is understandable and expected, but still abuse of power.
i would have said 'no' a little while ago but now fuck it, the people have spoken. the problem now is that he isn't doing enough fuckery to benefit the people. supreme court declared that the president is above the law and he isn't doing anything with that. sc did it for trump but biden could and should use it. literally send everything on the dod depot to ukraine, give unlimited funds to solar and wind, forgive every loan and shoot modafukin steve bannon in the face
Agreed. Fuck 'em. I'd have been bothered if the system held accountable the horrible people that are about to come to power. At this point Hunter's crimes look like a joke on this background.
His crimes were going away with the plea deal before the right set their sights on him.
Unfortunately, what would that mean in a few months? Trump would have ALL shreds or pretence and standards removed. He'd pull an iraq Parliament, and arrest congresspersons right on the floor. Look up "Saddam purge".
Now, I'm not saying it won't happen anyway, but Biden doing it now normalizes it then. The degree to which we give up systemic stability now, is permanent and relevant then. We would hope the sheer novelty / abnormality of trump acting so impulsively would trigger revolt, even from his "base". That, or we get man-in-thehighcastle-ed and america is broken up as a result.
None of that is good for global welfare.
Biden shooting a political opponent is not normalized.
Edit bunch of armchair warriors here on Lemmy.
This pardon is another example of taking the high road?
They're clearly saying that this is the opposite.
What does hypocrisy mean to you?
I think hypocrisy implies similarities in transgressions. And if you're talking about that in this context it just shows your ignorance.
You're projecting.
Quotes from President Joe Biden stating that he would not pardon his son Hunter Biden:
What does trolling mean to you?
I'm not happy about this. Not one bit. Just like how I wouldn't have been happy to hear about Trump pardoning one of his own kids for breaking the law. As a matter of fact, I'm furious reading some of the comments in this thread.
It shocks me to see people defending this. We fought against the Republicans to prevent misuse of executive powers exactly like this. How the fuck can you sit there and rationalize this while saying it's wrong for Trump to pardon the Jan 6th insurrectionists? or himself for that matter?
This is a black stain on Biden's presidential legacy. It's shit like this that puts wind in the sails of all the crazy Republican conspiracy theorists out there. Now, every single motherfucker who ranted and raved about the "Biden Crime Family" since 2020 was just proven right, just like how all the people who said that Trump's convictions were politically motivated were proven right when Jack Smith dropped the charges. It makes us look like fucking morons and hypocrites.
No, before anyone says it, it is not smart to stoop to their level when basically the only messaging we sent out during the entire 2024 campaign was that we were the morally superior choice. That someone who doesn't respect the rule of law has no business being president. Now, we don't even have that to lean on.
Biden could literally dress up like Commando and slaughter the Supreme Court on live tv without “undermining the judicial process.” Can’t undermine something if it doesn’t exist.
It's just easier if he does it, since SCOTUS already said it was legal.
Just thinking about this
Here's for wishing
This is SUPREME CORRUPTION! What next? He's going to Appointment Family Members to Government Positions? Allow the Highest Bidders to Buy OVERSIGHT Positions? SELL Pardons? DISGUSTING!
It's not a great look...but let's be frank. Biden was pushed out of a race he wanted, during a presidency that wasn't all that bad considering what came before. The Dems that wanted him out are now all either infighting, or saying everything is fine and they'll definitely win in four years. Biden's in the last weeks of his job, and when he's lost so much already he probably just wants to ensure his family are safe.
After decades of public service, and being committed to handing power over to someone that's demonized what's left of his family, I'm all for Biden using his last week or two to protect his family and enjoy retirement.
I am more shocked by people supporting Biden's action than the action itself
It really shows how fucked up and desperate the American political discourse is at this point IMO. Before it was "see how much integrity Biden has for not even pardoning his own son", now it's turned into "Hunter was a political prisoner and victim of unjust persecution" in an instant. No one is willing to admit any faults because the other side gleefully profits from them. I can understand why people do it, but it's a worrying indication for the state of politics in America.
I don’t love it, but I get it
I do love it. It's about time a Democrat fucking did something without constant worry about what Fox News might say about it. You think we were going to win over these supposed "centrists" anyway?
He's not appointing him to a cabinet position. He's not making him the Ambassador to France. And the only reason he was having the entire book thrown at him for crimes he did, absolutely commit was, in fact, political.
Fuck former Senator Bob Menendez. That was real corruption. Fuck Blagojevich, he should rot in prison (except that Trump pardoned him). But Hunter's crimes were pretty minor.
I’d prefer that he’d act in the interest of the American people overall in his cutting and running. The last month has had many examples of last minute “good luck with the fallout, Donny” moves, but this is exclusively self interest. I don’t love it, but I get it. Hope he enjoys whichever country he and his son will flee to as we mad max it
That pardon smells fishy, but I can understand that he does not want to leave his son exposed to imprisonment under Trump. Donald has shown time and again that he has no problems in going after weak persons to extract petty revenge.
Remember guys, it's not corruption when it's legal...
On the one hand this is pretty hypocritical. On the other hand I probably would do the same in his position given that trump plans to weaponize the Justice department. Not great but this is the state our country is in now.
Stop with the whataboutism, this is the political class acting in its own interest at no benefit to any of us. If anything this discredits the legal system and is to our detriment.
It's not that they can't, it's that they don't want to.
Good. I hope the democrats play just as dirty and hard as the republicans going forward. We cannot be civil with barbarians.
Leonard Peltier? Edward Snowden?
Honestly, who cares? Good for him.
Honestly, no one in this eco chamber.
Dude:
You're posting from a lemmynsfw account
Trump is a convicted felon, tried to overthrow the government, and has done plenty of questionable pardons himself and despite all of that is going to be president again
Nobody cares. Not in this "eco chamber" [sic] and likely not in any other one either.
Why is Trump even important in this case (or where this comment came from) I'm not from USA and in my country such pardons are rarely used but from my POV it looks like a president is favoring his family and not trusting the system where he was the chief of for 4 years. It is not like there was a specific case where Hunter Biden was targeted. If I understood correctly it is a blanket statement where he is granted immunity.
In most modern countries it is discussed if granting PMs immunity is a good idea and in USA the president can grant his family immunity.
Yes there was.
lemmynsfw is awesome!
I love how you think knowing your fallacies still matters.
Pushes glasses up from the nostril level to his nose bridge
Clears his throat to reveal an urkle voice Errrrm see you were using ad hominem and whataboutism to make your point and therefore it's inaccurate.
Nobody cares.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=spo1jK4CCEU&t=2s&pp=2AECkAIB
You wrote fan fiction just now, that took care.
Considering Hunter Biden was the victim of a politically motivated witch hunt, and not an actual criminal. I have no problem with this,
It's almost like our government only really functions to bail out rich/well-connected fuck ups. What's new?
What's new? People openly simping and celebrating this action as a good thing.
Not American, so forgive me if I don't understand the full context, but why is this more upsetting then when Trump pardoned a relative or when Clinton did it?
I'm not surprised and I don't really care. Last time I checked the charges against him were kinda bullshit and it was clear to me that red team was pushing for him to face charges out of spite. It's funny to see Trump get mad about it though, he would have pardoned his own kid a long time ago if he were in that position. Well, maybe not Eric, but definitely Don Jr, Ivanka, or maybe the other ones.
Not a great look but at the same time I am not upset about it.
"Critics argue the move undermines the judicial process, while supporters view it as within Biden’s constitutional powers."
Both things are true though. The pardon power exists as a check on the judicial branch, so it certainly undermines it in the same way that the veto undermines legislative decisions by congress. The constitution gives the president the authority to do some pretty blatant undermining, but checks work in the other direction too if the branches are acting as co-equals and not just shilling for one of the others.
Republicans seemed to have successfully done a false equivalency. They lied about witch hunts and then did one, and then when the president swatted it away people reacted with, "Oh, they're both the same."
Trump pardons traitors, insurrectionists, Nazis. A witch hunt victim is in the same league, because family I guess. Not like that was the reason for the witch hunt or anything!
Democrats are twisting this as a great thing now after Biden said he would never do this, what a total bunch of hypocrites.
Once again more "it's okay when our side does it" from them.
Meh, fuck it. Our justice system is dead.
Well, unless you're poor. Then it works just fine. Against the poor.
Lol I don't give a fuck, if I had a functional democracy with justice then maybe k would care, but this system is clearly FUBAR
Of course he did. If you thought otherwise you were gullible. Politicians lie and party affiliation makes no difference. Save the outrage for the truly outrageous things the next 4 years are going to bring.
Just like Harris going to Hawaii immediately after her loss, this sends a clear message.
"I don't give a fuck. This was always about personal power and wealth."
Just incase anyone thought the DNC would actually use their defeat as a reason to soul search about how their neoliberal policies no longer serve the people and that's why people aren't coming out to vote.
Trump's entire stchick is gaming every system to manipulate things in his favour. The Dems always take the higher ground and always get pounded. Every single time - Gore in 2000, particularly.
If Biden 'pardons' his son to ameliorate Hunter's political persecution, then it's a step in the right direction to push back. Tame as it is, the Dems better learn to fight fire with napalm before all is lost.
I disagree. There is pushing back for political gain, and pushing back for personal gain. Pardoning hunter is certainly an example of Biden abandoning the moral high ground. However it does not advance the cause of the democratic party in any way and only serves Joe Biden and his family personally. This is not a step in the right direction, it gives up moral correctness only to make the political position of the Democrats worse.
Yeah we all know how useful that moral correctness has been the last 20 years
I see the "Republican are always giving up moral superiority to gain an advantage so Democrats should do it too" argument. But at least get something worthwhile for selling your soul. Like, if you're packing the supreme court you can at least protect abortion rights properly. If you nuke the senate filibuster you can pass some decent healthcare laws, or tax the rich maybe. Pardoning Hunter does nothing for anyone except the Biden family.
Joe is acknowledging that the justice system sucks and powers that be can decide to fuck you over with it any time, but instead of abusing his power to try and fix it, he's just bailing out his loved ones and then riding off into the sunset, leaving the rest of us to get fucked over. That's stupid.
So?
Guy was an actual good president. Anyone that's done their homework knows that. And he got fucking shafted by a stupid populace.
You think he should now respect that stupid populace by leaving his son in prison for non-violent crimes while a criminal president who explicitly stated he would target his political opponents sits in the Oval Office?
Nah dawg.
And late-term pardons are not some new thing. It's only news now because a Democrat did it and Democrats have always been held to a higher standard. And that shit needs to change because in America taking the high road doesn't benefit you in any way.
That doesn't matter in America anymore.
How could it be worse? They lost everything.
We now know, beyond doubt, that attempting to take the moral high ground and honor decorum will make you lose in America. Time for Dems to shift their strategy and play in the mud with Republicans.
Americans are dumb and easily influenced. At this point I'm actually fine with Dems spreading blatant misinformation to win. Because that's how it's done in America now.
"Political persecution". LMFAO He ran around with guns while being high and evaded taxes. Bidens claim that his son was "singled out" only applies in the logic of rich white people, who expect the system to protect them from the law.
I know tons of users of cannabis (it's legal here) and are gun owners. Nothing wrong with that.
You can be drunk af, and go hunting, and that's legal.
So yeah, it's a BS charge.
Tax evasion? Come on. That's a trumped up charge, seeing as we elected a tax evading rapist as POTUS.
Being drunk and hunting is absolutely not legal.
Alcoholics shouldn't be allowed near firearms either. And in the case of Hunter Biden we are talking about crack cocaine. I hope we can agree that crack addicts have a very different psychology from weed smokers. When it comes to drugs that are particularly problematic with firearms the list is lead by Meth, Crack and Alcohol. And Biden also was an alcoholic at the time.
Per the law, though, cannabis is far more dangerous than crack or non-crack cocaine.
And, no, i don't think cocaine users are subhuman, undeserving of the same civil rights everyone else has.
And if they are addicted, we should give them the needed health care to solve that.
The US Drug sheduling is absurd.
People not being allowed to own and carry guns while being addicted to drugs doesn't make them "subhuman". And what the heck is wrong with Americans defining who is a human and who isn't based on them having guns?
Also i fail to see how owning guns is in any way relevant to access to healthcare. Should access to healthcare be exclusive to gun owners?
The right to own guns should be dependent on having the full mental capacity and character to handle them responsibly. One of the effects of cocaine and even more so with crack cocaine is a boost to the own ego and removal of empathy towards others. People under the influence of cocaine are known to be more reckless and more violent than sober. Same with alcohol lowering peoples inhibitions and making them more violent and impulsive. These drugs shouldn't be mixed with guns ever and it is insane to now defend this in order to defend Hunter Biden, just because he is a Biden.
The human right to keep and bear arms is in our constitution
So, yes, abridging a right, to a class of people, is saying they are subhuman, and not deserving of the full spectrum of rights there for all humans.
Yeah mental states should be irrelevant to the ability to tote guns, the most basic of human rights.
Even infant children deserve human rights, give kids guns too!
Yep.
A few weeks ago we got the final notice that playing nice simply does not work in America. Americans want corruption. They voted for it.
In a system like that you have to play as dirty as your opponent or you will lose.
Time for Dems to take the low road and start winning. That's how it's done in America.
This is selfish 1% privileged horseshit. Fuck Biden. Fuck his son. Fuck this selfish, narcissistic act that ignores all of us, you know, us fucks who got him elected.
He is now as much an enemy of mine as Trump is. Fuck him.
Nope no nopity nope. People who genuinely have good intentions and actually spark meaningful change will always win in the public's eye.
Stopping down to the level of the "bad guys" will only make you a "bad guy". This "us vs them" mentality some of you guys is to the detriment of a functioning government.
I just have to add "They do bad things, so we're justified to do bad things as well" is such a bad argument.
People who were already sure Joe was going to pardon his oddly-named son: everyone.
Republicans overjoyed this outgoing president is now "just like" the worst human ever to run for office: all of them. "Whataboutism" is an alien term.
Political prisoners still incarcerated left to pardon: none.
Let the guy gather his family so he can travel far away from the despot felon and be safe in retirement. Don't envy that he can and we can't.
It's both. I'm very disappointed by this. I had hoped Biden would maintain integrity on this.
Lol. Integrity is out. Americans just voted so.
Side note - it's funny to watch how quickly leftists are descending into maga-like craziness defending this obvious abuse of power.
"Trump did worse" is not a principle.
What 'leftist' supports Biden?! The political compass in the US is..... Special I guess? There's no 'left' on the mainstream political spectrum in the US as far as I can see. Libs are not leftists by any standard in any country outside of the US. The Dems are to the right of the right coalition in charge of my country right now.
25 comments in and I haven't seen a single person defend this blatant corruption.
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
...
...
And that's just a few from this post.
Thanks, but I'm not interested in reading a bunch of cherry-picked comments.
I made no claim that none of the posts the OP was whining about existed, only implied that they were exaggerating as I didn't see a single one while reading every single comment up until I reached OPs.
The term "cherry-picked" isn't applicable here since it implies I'm leaving out context or other information, but you already had context (the comments doing the opposite of defending), I simply showed you what you claimed to not see.
The term is applicable because unless you provided those comments in the order you viewed comments in this post (which was the claim of my initial comment), you specifically sought out comments with the bias you were looking for, disregarding comments that did not fit the narrative.
Yes I specifically sought out the comments you didn't see, what's so hard to understand about that?
I responded with the list of comments you claimed you didn't see, you already saw the other comments, why would I include them?
Holy shit you only had to answer them, not pee on them
A blatant gaslighter.
You are either responding to the wrong person or don't know what that word means.
You're still doing it btw.
Good for you
Don't worry, we all see it
Remember to vote blue no matter who next election tho
The left in the U.S. is a joke who'll never get their shit together.
Well, we just saw lawless, violent MAGA gain total control of our federal government by lying and cheating.
So that's the standard now. Americans voted to prove so. We're just adapting to our environment.
I hope we lie, cheat, and steal to the max in the next election (if there is one), so we can gain total control using the same tactics. Because those are the tactics that work in America.
Your dictator will be so much better than their dictator eh?
What ridiculous ridiculous bs.
Nah. I just want the party that has a history of voting in favor of working class Americans and being better for our economy to do what they need to do to get elected in America. Which is lie, cheat, and steal.
I have empathy for his decision, but it was a bad one.
Yeah, I agree.
Thank you! It’s been so aggravating, it’s like they are unable to defend Biden’s awful policies without saying Trump’s name.
Yeah I would be fine with this IF he also used the expanded powers granted to him by Trump's Supreme Court to block the incoming fascist/monarchist takeover. Or, fine, don't try to block them with anything that gives the courts a chance to clarify that ruling, but also don't transfer power smoothly and peacefully to these bastards in any way shape or form, you know? If you're saying "fuck it", then fuck ALL of it; not just the parts of it that affect you personally.
Is this just a distraction from the incoming administration refusing to sign ethics statements they signed into law, or avoiding background checks for sensitive government positions
The GOP has zero moral fibers to stand on. Joe free yourself from these Nazi shits.
Oh hey look, precedent.
"We take the high road" mfers when the low road people go after his son:
Thank fuck the guy you've all been defending did a selfish act just for himself and his family before ditching us all to die.
Vote with a brick next time.
Good old Lemmy, defending its owners. Wage slaves in spirit lmao
The scary thing about this is not that he did it. But that this is where we are at. I believe (I'm not from the us and don't follow politics so could be wrong). That Biden believed in the system and thought others did too.
But with Trump coming in, he now believes the system is broken. What he believed in is broken. And as such he's getting what's his, for himself. And now democrat or Republican they both will stomp on the US system to get what they want.
And I have no doubt that the US people are really going to learn what that truly means. When you throwaway the guard rails that you used to believe in. I hope you watch closely.
Every president has pardoned those close to them when they leave office, it's tradition
Fuck it, I'd do the same. Potentially 25 years in prison for non-violent crimes is ridiculous. Might as well use the power to prevent it while you still have it.
A pretty mundane act of fatherhood. If you had the power to prevent your kid from going to jail for something that was done a 5 years ago most people would do it. It wasn't a violent crime that he is being pardoned from so its not that much different than all the pardons Trump did in his first term for all the fraud convictions.
I've been a supporter since I was first able to vote for Obama's first term. Not anymore, guys. You don't do enough for us but virtue-signal when you have the ability to and you only think about yourselves when you don't. I just don't believe in them. They don't stop fascism, they pause it, and in some cases, contribute to it by their cowardice, and pardoning his son is just taking a shit on all of us right before he leaves.
I fully intend to do as much for the Democratic party of America going forward, as they have done for me, by ignoring them and pretending they don't exist.
What's this will shit? Buckle up, buttercup. The time for voting has passed. We're in the endgame now.
Trump'll pardon all the Jan 6'ers in jail when he gets into office. Actual insurrectionist criminals.
Biden 2028!
"Hey, you've seen my hog and you know I was a crackhead."
Lmao
It's bullshit that this is even controversial.
Sorry. Next time we'll ask you before we decide what is going to be controversial. It's been a crazy month, we let this one slide by but it won't happen again
Good good, I like to be in the loop.
He already did pardon all federal use and simple possession crimes. But the vast majority are at the state level.
So harvey dent was right, You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.
Uncanny
The trolls are getting kicked out of Bluesky and landing here lol
pardoning the j6 in 1 month, eh
Fuck that. Peacefully handing over the country to the oligarchy and this is what he uses his now completely unlimited presidential power for. What a fucking dick.
He could have expanded the court. He could have abolished the electoral college. He could have assassinated Trump. He could have done anything to help anyone but his family but he didn't. What a fucking dick.
EDIT: Not suggesting he should have gone dark Brandon and assassinated Trump.
When people tell me not to "both sides" things it's this type of comment I think of.
Jesus Christ...
Not that I think he should have. I'm just saying he had theoretically unlimited power and he chose to protect his family above all else.
Gotcha
Trump's lawyers successfully argued in front of SCOTUS that a president could have their opposition assassinated, call it an official presidential act, and it would be up for congress to decide whether or not it was legal.
I don't think he should have assassinated Trump, but they're right, he could have, and the legal fallout would have kept him free for the few years he has left to live.
Yep, POTUS swears an oath to defend from enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC.
Trump is a domestic enemy. Like Hitler was to Germany.
What's funny is the expectation by so many here that a guy "unwaveringly supporting" people mass murdering children for their etnicity would have the Morals to not pardon his own son when he can do it at no cost to himself.
Like all other sociopaths only considerations about "consequences" drive his choices.
Democrats are pissed because all we had left after this election was our integrity. Biden can do what he wants honestly - he doesn't owe us anything - but this is still depressing.
That's wild. Lots of people thought he would wait until sentencing to decide.
Looking at all this from the outside, it is sad to see how blind people get, by picking sides. Both sides are terrible. Sure, one side may be more or less terrible than the other, but it all stinks and it is sad to see it happen to a country that the rest of the world looked up to, only 30 yrs ago
Neoliberals made the decision to vote for the lesser evil before I was even born. After 30 years of constantly drifting rightward, it's not surprising that we've ended up here. I'm just pissed I was born just in time to be alone in the thick of it.
Wish my dad was a millionaire president.
Good.
Why should Democrats continue taking the high ground now? Americans just overwhelmingly voted for blatant corruption. Nothing matters anymore. No reason for Dems to play it straight when they already tried that and Americans didn't respect it.
Corruption is in. Let's do it.
I love how the top comment is essentially whataboutism.
Post: Joe Biden does thing.
Lemmy: TRUUUUUUUUMP.
Who actually cares apart from phony politicians? This dude didn't do anything that's actually a real "crime". Ofc any reasonable parent would do the same. Yes, the injustice system is completely oppressive and violent but that doesn't mean we should selectively celebrate it. There are farrrrr bigger problems (eg. genocide).
Lol this thread is awful. The amount of you guys defending this because it's "your team", absolutely pathetic blue MAGA trash
The only crime Hunter Biden ever committed was being named "Biden"
What about agreeing to hold 10% for the big guy?
For those of you who want to act like this is no big deal, he didn't do anything too bad, it's a non-issue please watch Nate the Lawyer's video on it.
presidential pardons shouldn't be based on personal intrests. you have opened the floodgates for Trump
Sentencing was in 2 days, which is still plenty of time for Biden to have pardoned if the sentence was out of line with normal sentencing guidelines-- aka, a "witchhunt". Hunter was tried by a group of his peers for tax and gun crimes he clearly committed. I dont see how it could have been a witch hunt, since the congressional inquiry was shut down.
So why did Biden issue pardon before sentencing? One can only assume Hunter was about to get a sentence thats just fine and in line with his conviction. If he was about to get "nailed" in a "witch hunt" as some people said here, it would have been better to wait for the alleged abusive judicial behavior to be apparent before acting. Biden made the choice not to wait, therefore there is probably no clear unfairness to point to in Hunters case. We will never 100% know the truth either way, but the witchhunt theory just doesnt line up with the facts we can see with our own eyes.
So, Biden very likely abused his authority to let his son off for crimes that he should be accountable for as a citizen. Biden brought justice in the country down a notch for personal gain. Yet again, the man is not worthy of his office. Neither is Harris or Trump. They are all self centered corrupt opportunists acting for other reasons than the job is supposed to be about.
Evidently if it saves his son a single year in jail, Biden will wipe his rear with his party's dignity, if not the entire concept of justice in this country.
Democrats and Trump are now even. Both witch hunts can be dropped.
ITT: the hypocrisy of liberals on full display. No shame.