- The Washington Times - Thursday, October 24, 2024

Former President Donald Trump says he would be open to pardoning President Biden’s son, Hunter, who faces sentencing in December on criminal convictions.

“I wouldn’t take it off the books,” Mr. Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in an interview that aired Thursday.

Mr. Trump, who faces sentencing on New York convictions, contrasted his openness to pardoning Hunter Biden to his own legal problems.

“See, unlike Joe Biden, despite what they’ve done to me, where they’ve gone after me so viciously … and Hunter’s a bad boy. There’s no question about it. He’s been a bad boy. All you had to do is see the laptop from hell,” Mr. Trump said, referring to an abandoned laptop that seemed to show Hunter Biden trading on his name for foreign business deals. “But I happen to think it’s very bad for our country.”

Hunter Biden was found guilty in June of lying about his status as a drug user when he applied for a firearm. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 4. He also pleaded guilty in September to tax charges.

President Biden has said he doesn’t plan to pardon his son.

Mr. Trump suggested he could have gone after Hillary Clinton after his victory over her in the 2016 presidential election. Mrs. Clinton faced FBI scrutiny over her use of a private email server as secretary of state and her handling of sensitive government information.

“You know, they’d start, 30,000 people, ’Lock her up, lock her up.’ What did I do? I always say take it easy, just relax. We’re winning. Take it easy. Take it easy,” Mr. Trump said. “I could have had her put in jail. And I decided I didn’t want to do that. I thought it would look terrible.”

Mr. Trump didn’t detail how he might have gone after Mrs. Clinton, though his own criminal prosecutions stem from the Biden Justice Department.

Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 appointed special counsel Jack Smith to oversee investigations against Mr. Trump related to his actions after the 2020 election and storage of classified documents at his Florida residence.

Mr. Smith secured indictments, but Mr. Trump told Mr. Hewitt he would fire the special counsel immediately if he wins in November.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.

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