LOW ANGELES.–President Joe Biden, 81, once said he would not commute or pardon his 54-year-old son Hunter when talking about hypothetical conviction on federal gun charges, that he lied on a federal gun application about his past drug addiction. Hunter was convicted June 11 of all three gun-related charges by a sympathetic Delaware jury, prompting the White House to signal that the president could commute Hunter’s sentence, at least for now, depending on what happens to the presidential election Nov. 5. If Joe loses the election, he has three months, until Jan. 20, 2025 to commute or pardon his son. If Joe wins the election, he would have another four years to make any commutation or pardon decision. Hunter faces far more serious charges for income tax evasion in September, more likely to generate a longer sentence than his federal gun convictions.
Democrats made headlines talking about Joe’s fidelity to the Constitution and rule of law, meaning he would do nothing to interfere with the application of the criminal justice system. Signaling he would look at commuting Hunter’s sentence before the Nov. 5 presidential election raises some eyebrows about Joe’s real fidelity to the criminal justice system. “As we all know, the sentencing hasn’t even been scheduled yet,” said White House Press Secretary Carine Jean-Pierre on Air Force One traveling to the G7 summit in Italy. “He was very, very upfront, obviously very definitive” about a presidential pardon, Jean-Pierred said. “But on a commutation, I just don’t have anything beyond that,” suggesting that Biden looks with his advisers at all his options to help his son Hunter. When it comes to his income tax evasion case, all bets are off.
All the talk of how faithful Joe is to the law is utter rubbish when it comes to Hunter or anyone else in his family, including himself. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have accused Joe to profiting off his son and brother Jim’s overseas business transaction, netting the Biden family millions. Hunter faces the real prospects of going to prison over income tax evasion, with the federal weapons charges small potatoes. Biden’s Press Secretary has no clue how Biden has been advised to protect his son, his family and himself from any malfeasance, especially over overseas business deals. If Hunter is convicted in the fall of income tax evasion, it’s going to be difficult to attribute all to his crack addiction. Jurors didn’t show much mercy for Hunter’s drug addiction when convicting him of federal gun charges.
Biden’s shifting position on Hunter hopes to thread needle in a presidential campaign where any mistake could spell doom for his second term. Voters obviously don’t like the president using his authority to grant preferential treatment to family members, especially after s celebrating former President Donald Trump May 30 conviction of 34 felonies related to a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. No legal scholar can figure out what law Trump broke but he was convicted of all counts. When it comes to Hunter, Biden makes lots of excuses for his drug addiction, erratic relationships and fast-and-lose overseas business transactions that now snares him in an income tax evasion case. ‘I’ve answered that question before. It was asked of me not too long ago, a coup of weeks ago. And I was very clear, and I said no,” Jean-Pierre told the press last September.
Biden’s fidelity to the criminal justice system and rule of law looks to follow similar patterns to other president
whose family members got into hot water and need commutations or pardons to deal with legal fallout. Whatever minor sentence, if any, Hunter gets for running afoul with federal gun charges, it pales in insignificance to what he faces in September when he faces income tax charges. Unless Hunter’s legal defense team pulls a rabbit out of their hats, Hunter could face many years behind bars. So, as time goes on the prospects of a presidential commutation or pardon grows by the day. Biden isn’t about to let his son Hunter go to jail no matter how much he pretends to the press his faith in the criminal justice system. How can anyone trust the system when it went after Trump for years for purely political reasons to help Hillary get elected in 2016?
Democrats and the press say Trump is a threat to American democracy, citing the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, even though Trump had nothing to do with what happened. Democrats and the press want to assume facts not in evidence, including, after years of investigations, whether or not Trump participated in any way with the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection. Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland approved 55-year-old Special Counsel Jack Smith charges against Trump for trying to overthrow the 2020 presidential election. Smith has no facts linking Trump to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, but acts like he does, along with House Democrats. House Democrats, of course, accused Trump of colluding with the Kremlin to win the 2016 presidential election. No one House Democrat or member of the press apologized when Special Counsel Robert Mueller acquitted Trump in 2019.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
