OPINION:
Joe Biden said he would never use his position of presidential power to pardon his son and save him from his felony jail sentences. But in a late-night Sunday move — the day of the Lord — he did.
Talk about a mocking of justice.
Hunter Biden was convicted in two separate cases in Delaware and California involving guns and money, i.e., tax fraud. In June, he was found guilty in a federal court in Delaware of three felonies tied to a 2018 gun purchase; specifically, he lied when he filled out his form by saying he was not using illegal drugs. Then in September, he was due in court in California to face charges that he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes. At the last minute — right as jury selection was due to begin — he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges. He was due for sentencing this month for the two federal cases.
And just for context: He was facing up to 17 years in jail for the tax evasion and another 25 years for the guns.
His dad, meanwhile, had been promising all along to respect the court decisions and to steer clear of using his White House position to save his son from the consequences of his actions.
In June, after Hunter was found guilty on the federal firearms’ counts, the president said this: “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”
In November, just a few days after Donald Trump won the election, Biden — through his White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre — said this: “We’ve been asked that question [about clemency for Hunter] multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.”
On Opposite Day.
Sunday night, a new day of infamy, Dec. 1, 2024, Biden rolled out this statement: “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”
Biden didn’t just pardon Hunter’s gun and tax crimes. He pardoned any and all other “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024.”
It was a sweeper of sweeping pardons.
And that is how the Biden administration ends: with a resounding slap in the face to the American people — a punch in the gut to justice — a stomp on the constitutional system of law and order — a final sneering jab of hypocrisy and arrogance thrust the nation’s way, served up with the Biden family’s classic holier than thou attitude.
On the Lord’s sacred day.
How very fitting.
The only Americans who should be cheering this move right now are the Jan. 6 prisoners. They’re next — under Trump, they should all be next in line for pardons. And nobody in the Democrat Party and Dem-fawning media better object.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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