Joe Biden’s pardon of Hunter further undermines his legacy

During the first seven months of 2024, that long period before Joe Biden finally had to reckon with the realities of his diminishing capabilities and popularity, the key question to ask the aging president was how he understood the unique priority of his job: ensuring that Donald Trump did not regain control of executive power. . He started the year campaigning for re-election, but during a debate with Trump in late June, he stumbled over confusing answers and sent the Democratic Party into a state of complete panic. Over the next month, Biden stubbornly and selfishly persisted in running a campaign that was doomed to fail. Even after he eventually relinquished the nomination, he often seemed bitter and angry about being forced to step down.

This drama has often been portrayed as a tragedy – a good man finally forced to confront his own mortality and give up power. However, a more troubling analysis arose from the strong impression that throughout this drama, the national interest was not at the forefront of Biden’s mind. On Sunday evening, Biden pardoned his son Hunter with the stroke of a presidential pen. Earlier this year, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges and was scheduled to be sentenced later this month. He was also convicted in June of three federal firearms charges. Now he will face no punishment either way, and the amnesty extends to any “crimes” he “committed or may have committed” starting in 2014. Some have been quick to portray the drama in terms of decency – a father, understandably, saving his son. Child from prison. But Biden once again forced Americans to question whether he was acting in the national interest or in response to private whims and grievances.

Many will argue, as the Bidens do, that Hunter was certainly a mess, and deeply flawed, but the only reason he faced a long prison sentence is because he was the son of the president in an era of political warfare. But in reality, Biden is no ordinary man, and by pardoning his son, he is once again missing his ultimate goal: to diminish Donald Trump’s ability to wreak violence against the liberal democratic institutions that Biden claims his presidency has been focused on upholding. . In fact, regardless of whether Biden’s age (now 82) or his character is in charge, the statement he issued about the pardon makes clear that he does not recognize the differences between his responsibilities to his job and his responsibilities to his family. “I hope Americans understand why Father and President made this decision,” Biden wrote.

This is a strange statement from the President of the United States regarding official business. We should not expect Americans to understand why the “father” made this decision; It is simply the wrong standard by which the most powerful man on Earth should ask to be judged. Worse still, it more cynically resembles the way Biden’s predecessor and successor operated, not as head of a democratic government, but, more often, as the leader of a family of gangsters. (Trump has already announced that he is appointing two of his sons-in-law to government roles; this kind of insider dealing will seem strange within weeks of his inauguration.)

In his statement, Biden claimed that his son was accused “selectively” and “unfairly.” Legal experts disagree about how unfair the prosecution is: the tax case is widely viewed as worthy of attention, while gun charges appear rare and targeted. However, the charges were brought by Biden’s Justice Department. “Then, a carefully negotiated plea agreement, approved by the Department of Justice, collapsed in the courtroom — with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for putting political pressure on the process,” Biden continued. But the possibility of political pressure affecting the plea deal is not a sufficient reason to obstruct the judicial process. The rest of Biden’s statement is a mix of his tougher side (“I’ve had enough”) and dank paeans to the wisdom of the American people (“Throughout my entire career, I’ve followed a simple principle: Just tell the American people the truth”). They will be fair.”) By all accounts, it falls short of explaining why Biden made that decision — especially after he repeatedly promised he wouldn’t do it, and had his staff do the same.

Team Trump is certainly feeling happy today, because every conceivable argument for allowing a man like Kash Patel to lead the FBI might now seem somewhat more convincing to any wavering Republican. (This, of course, should not be an excuse for any senator who votes for Patel, or any other unqualified and dangerous Trump nominee.) More broadly, Biden’s decision allows Republicans to engage in the same cynicism that the system is rigged and corrupt. And Trump is no different from any other politician, with whom they have been engaged for nearly a decade. This couldn’t be further from the truth — especially the part about Trump’s corruption and self-dealing being no different from the norm — but Biden is doing the work of people who want to destroy the best aspects of the American democratic spirit.

The pardon now gives Trump and his allies the opportunity to call Biden a hypocrite and move on with enforcing the law their own way. “Most Americans can sympathize with a father’s decision to pardon his son, even if they disagree,” Senator Tom Cotton said Monday. “What they cannot forgive is that Biden lied about this over and over again before the election. . . . Democrats can spare us lectures on the rule of law when, say, President Trump nominates Pam Bondi and Kash Patel to clean up this corruption. Cotton is expected to be disingenuous, but Democrats can only hope that more rational Republican senators than Cotton do not fall for this logic.

Biden’s defenders are sure to use Patel and his ilk to justify the president’s move, since Trump and his team have promised to go after his political enemies — including, in Biden’s case, his children. Based on this understanding, the pardon anticipates what will come from the next administration. But, if this is the reason for the pardon, why did Biden only pardon his son? And if he is willing to offer Hunter a pardon for any crimes, even those he has not been accused of, why not extend the same to Anthony Fauci, Andrew McCabe, Barack Obama, or anyone else on the (long) list of people. Does Trump want prosecution and persecution? If Biden is planning to pardon some of these people, why would he start this perhaps understandable campaign with his son? Needless to say, this particular motive was not mentioned in Biden’s selfish and self-pitying statement.

It would be comforting to think that this near-recent action by Biden is a departure from his legacy and his presidency, the unfortunate error in judgment of an aging lion who gave his country a life of service and made it a better, more just place. . As a senator and president, Biden has many accomplishments to his name, and one hopes that the most important ones, like the inflation-reducing law, will continue into the next four years. But the unfortunate possibility is that his behavior last year will overshadow his achievements in the history books, and even in the memories of the minority of Americans who approve of his presidency. By putting his selfish aspirations above his responsibilities, Biden paved Trump’s way back to Washington. On Sunday night, he let his personal desires take over again. The consequences of the latter action would not be as dire, but this decision was made for the same reasons. It is a fitting end to a tragic presidency. ♦