Hunter Biden’s pardon

OPINION:

Clearly, President Biden didn’t mean it last June when he responded to a question from David Muir of ABC News about whether he would pardon his son Hunter.

“I am not going to do anything. I will abide by the jury’s decision,” the president said. He repeated that assertion on other occasions. So did his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, many more times.

On Monday, the day after the pardon was granted, Ms. Jean-Pierre was asked by a reporter accompanying the president on his trip to Africa whether her and the president’s previous statements should be considered lies.

She responded: “One of the things the president always believes is to be truthful to the American people.”

Presumably, she said this with a straight face. To paraphrase Bill Clinton in a different context, I guess it depends on what the meaning of the word truth is.

It will be clear to many that the president’s original pledges were made before the election for political reasons. There was no way he would let Hunter go to prison, especially since he is privy to so much inside information about what Republicans believe to be corruption in the Biden family.

The Hunter pardon again proves George Orwell’s line in his novel “Animal Farm”: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has been investigating for many months alleged corruption in the entire Biden family, including Hunter’s high-paying position as a board member of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma — a position in the energy industry, in which he had no experience — to the 20 LLCs the Kentucky Republican believes to have been used for money laundering for the benefit of Biden family members, including “10 percent for the big guy,” as Hunter apparently referred to his father.

The pardon covers all of that and likely more.

The claim that “no one is above the law” should be discarded as untrue and never used again.

Mr. Biden’s pardon of Hunter has led many to theorize that something lurking underneath is meant to protect Hunter from charges that came to light in 2018.

Conservative commentator Liz Wheeler writes: “Hunter Biden joined the board of Burisma in 2014. By pardoning Hunter for any crimes he ’may have committed’ from 2014-2024, Joe Biden is protecting his family’s criminal cartel. Wow.”

She added that Mr. Biden also seems to be protecting Hunter from Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the FBI. Mr. Patel has vowed to reform the law enforcement agency.

While the Constitution grants absolute pardon power to the president, it doesn’t distinguish between those that are morally justifiable and those that are not.

In theological circles, pardon is usually granted after repentance and statements of remorse. This acknowledges a law to which all people are expected to conform. Receiving a pardon absent repentance mocks the law and suggests that it can be unequally applied. The debate about our open southern border and the failure to enforce immigration laws is another form of legal inequality.

President Biden’s pardon of his son will contribute to the growing cynicism many have about politics, politicians and Washington.

Fairness now demands that the president pardon Mr. Trump, ensuring that the now former special counsel Jack Smith won’t be able to resurrect charges he recently withdrew because of the Justice Department’s policy of not prosecuting a sitting president. That would guarantee Mr. Trump is not prosecuted after the end of his second term.

I’m confident that it will not happen.

• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (Humanix Books).