Biden could do so much good with pardons. Instead he saved his son | Tayo Bero

WWhen Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he would pardon his son Hunter, who was facing conviction in two federal criminal cases, he helped reinforce Donald Trump’s oft-repeated argument that the American justice system is lazy, politicized and in need of an overhaul.

It’s a stupid refrain, but there Are There are some big problems with Biden’s decision to do this now. What are we to make of the hypocrisy of a president who promised he would “never interfere in the business of the Justice Department” and who even, until six weeks ago, vowed not to pardon his son? Or the fact that he has just given Trump and the Republican Party the ammunition they need to justify, for example, pardoning the organizers of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6th? More morally troubling is that there are a million other good causes for which Biden could use his pardon powers.

“No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s cases could come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was singled out simply because he is my son — and that is false,” Biden said in his official pardon statement. He also called Hunter’s conviction a “miscarriage of justice.”

To be sure, Biden’s claims that Hunter was singled out because of his father have merit: Prosecutors rarely charge people with illegal gun possession while being addicted to a controlled substance unless, for example, it’s a violent crime, and many other people do also because of late tax assessments, it is permissible to resolve the matter in the civil courts.

But political witch hunt or not, the optics of Biden putting his son in his place are terrible when there are thousands of people languishing in federal prisons who deserve that consideration. From inmates on federal death row accused of false evidence to black and brown people serving long sentences for drug offenses or nonviolent crimes, the inequities in the U.S. justice system and who punishes or rewards it are far too stark and well – it is documented that Biden thought this was the right move.

Trump has promised to speed up mass deportations, carry out a series of executions, including on drug charges, and is actively trying to reincarnate thousands of people released into federal detention centers during the pandemic. Biden’s lack of foresight and judicial inaction on these issues becomes even more shameful in light of Hunter’s pardon.

Still, presidential pardons have always been something of a political spoil for outgoing presidents — a gift to friends and family that could be handed out before the party ends. Bill Clinton used it to clear his half-brother of old cocaine charges, while Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, his son-in-law’s father, for tax evasion, among other things.

But that’s just family. Let’s not forget that Trump also spent his first term handing out these pardons to his merry band of thieves and liars, including Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone. And it is this track record that makes the fallout from Biden’s pardon so frightening, as Trump has already hinted at how he plans to capitalize on the decision.

“Does the pardon granted by Joe Hunter extend to the J-6 hostages who have been imprisoned for years now?” Trump wrote on Truth Social after the announcement. “Such an abuse and miscarriage of justice!”

Meanwhile, Trump’s Republican friends have already found ways to turn this moment into a defense of Trump’s most egregious Senate proposals. “Democrats can save us from lectures on the rule of law if, for example, President Trump nominates Pam Bondi and Kash Patel to clean up this corruption,” Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton wrote on X.

Above all, the Hunter pardon and its aftermath reflect the sad and unfunny joke that has become of U.S. politics and government. Next month, Trump will become the first convicted felon ever sworn in as president in American history, and he is already preparing for his criminal friends to be released from prison. The difference is that now, every time Trump is criticized for his use of pardon powers, he can argue that Biden used the same powers to protect his own son.