President Biden pardons his son Hunter Biden
The decision, which was first reported by NBC News, is a reversal for the president, who repeatedly said he would not use his authority to pardon his son or commute his sentence.
Who gives a shit? Republicans made a felon president. Nothing fucking matters anymore.
It's not that people are mad he's doing it, we're mad he's not doing more meaningful thing that will help people not named Biden or help a foreign country commit a genocide.
What gets me tho is his supporters applauding this.
Even when he spent months promising not to do this because of the sanctity of justice system...
I know I could tell he was lying. But his supporters swore up and down Biden wouldn't lie, and now they're supporting it.
Do you honestly not understand why 1/3 of the country treats both parties as out of touch liars who don't care for 99.99% of Americans?
Like, if "nothing matters" why isn't Biden doing more? Why isn't he even appointing all the empty judges seats before Trump can?
Why is the only things he can do on his way out the door arming a genocidal far right religious state for their genocide and pardoning his own son?
Even when he spent months promising not to do this because of the sanctity of justice system…
He probably wasn't lying. Hunter was convicted for purely political reasons. The crimes he was convicted of are rarely enforced and almost never result in jail time against first offenders. The President assumed that his son would be treated fairly like any other first time offender. He believed in the sanctity of the justice system but has now been forced to revise that opinion because it's perfectly clear that he was wrong.
Literally fuck you I got mine. Which is why the cunts lost the election.
A felon that had to be given immunity by the supreme court he picked himself in order to stay out of prison long enough for the richest man in the world to get him elected.
You can't make this shit up
Reminds me of
And that's why you should let me go, Your Honor
You can commit 34 felonies, as a treat.
Exactly. Trump is about to pardon dozens/hundreds of treasonous terrorists (Jan 6th).
Honestly, I doubt he will pardon more than a small number people, most of the Jan6ers have nothing that will gain Trump if they are pardoned, and they have shown to be dangerous towards government and authority, these are not people an authoritarian government will want on the streets.
Past actions matter far, far less than future potential gains.
Trump will be back in office, he has won, he doesn't need the Jan6ers anymore.
I am certain that he will pardon a few, to make it seem like he/the republicans care, but the majority will probably stay locked up.
Honestly? With the absolute thought crime aspect and the way the plea deal was handled, I don't blame him one bit. There's no public interest in locking up Hunter Biden.
There's no public interest in locking a lot of people up, yet they still do.
Rules should be applied equally, regardless of who you or your parents are.
This rule should be disregarded equally.
Ya but he's white and wealthy. That shits better than Teflon these days.
Yeah, I don't see any public interest involved at all when it comes to the issue of presidents using their power to get their relatives off jail time. I don't think it undermines the sense of justice and equality that all citizens are supposed to have if the "first among equal citizens" can get their crackhead middle ages son off of already lenient legal consequences for actions that others are serving hard time for. Not at all a conspicuous legal hole that undermines the concept of the rule of law, and definitely not open to abuse.
There’s no public interest in locking up Hunter Biden.
Nonsense. Theres a massive public interest in a privileged member of the political elite being held to the same legal standards and to the same due process as you and me.
That's not the same legal standards. Tax charges that the IRS bends over backwards not to use and gun charges that are literally thought crime and also very rarely used.
This was the witch hunt the GOP cries wolf about. The original thing they were looking for was Ukrainian money deals.
For anyone else the IRS would have had a payment plan and the gun charges would have been a plea deal. But we go from politically motivated investigation to politically motivated judge rejecting the plea deal
What about this is the same due process we would have?
So this is his big Grand exit? He could do so much on the way out the door for the country but instead the senile old fuck only cares about his damn kid.
This is one trivial act.
Still got over a month.
Minus the 2+ weeks they take for the holidays.
Donald Trump has a hitlist. Hunter is on that list. I don't think he deserves the pardon, but he needs it. Republicans will crucify him given the chance. I don't really want to see Republicans holding his head up on a pike for all to see, as much as they'd love that.
If you switch some of those names around it's sounds just like four years ago when Trump was leaving office....
You get that, right?
Like, Hunter was a crackhead that lied to get a gun, and then they abandoned the gun in a trashcan like, right next to a school, and then said when they went back for it, someone had taken it
Hunter is not some innocent child. He's a crackhead in his 50s who has lived a life of luxury free of consequences due to political connections.
Don't forget Biden wrote the 92 crime bill, he's ruined innumerable lives of actual children because of that.
If you can't see the hypocrisy, you probably don't understand why 1/3 of voters dont vote.
No. They quite literally cannot get that. They will find a way to contort themselves into believing that Biden is a responsible dignified statesman who is forced into every stupid, evil or corrupt thing he does, up to and including genocide.
I am pretty sure that Trump would have had that man killed in prison. In my books his dad did the right thing, fuck the optics.
I just made a post commenting that it's a national security risk to have a former president's family member incarcerated or under prosecution by the DoJ as Trump is planning to run it. He flat out said he's planning to use the DoJ to incarcerate political rivals.
It's like
"Hey, Joe, we have your son. You need to tell me / support me / help me with [undermining institutions of democracy and our allies], or else."
Just in case any future presidents need a precedent for this kinda stuff.
If you think trump regarded precedent at all, i have a bridge to sell you.
Yea like Ford's pardon of Nixon, you mean those precedents?
Maybe Biden should make Hunter ambassador to France for the rest of the year
My hope of hopes is that this triggers a challenge and redefinition (and limitation) of presidential pardon powers.
Buuuutt… I am not confident things would go in any way toward that direction. Probably the opposite. I can imagine it being redefined to some legally egregious bullshit, as is the custom of these times.
Trump is gonna wind up with a stamp that reads “Presidential Pardon” and uses it with the abandon of a 3-year-old with a sticker book. He’s going to have a line of donors, stamping foreheads like it’s his own Ash Wednesday.
Braindead take of the day.
Trump plans to wield the DOJ as a weapon.
You want to give custody of the former president's son to Trump's DOJ?
It'll be another perfect phone call.
"Hey, Joe, we have your son..."
This has fuck all to do with the merits of the case or the interests of justice. This is a national security move.
It would be a reckless dereliction of loyalty to the country for Biden not to issue this pardon, given what it very likely to come.
As liberals brush it off as if there isn't a 2 tiered justice system in the US.
Liberal here, there is definitely a 2 tiered justice system in the US what are you even talking about
Our disagreement is over the idea that somehow the billionaire with an army of lawyers, who appointed half the judges his cases are in front of, and has been given every conceivable affordance and courtesy, is anywhere other than the top of the privileged tier.
This isn't about justice this is about national security, about who has custody of the former president's son.
This is to avoid a kidnapping and ransom.
Democrats aren’t exactly being a role model right now, but a lot of them are probably covering the asses of their own since Republicans are so blind by fascistic rage that they’re going to put a lot of innocent heads on pikes.
This thread reads like a satire of how Democrats are happy to sink lower and lower while using the GOP as an excuse.
Yeah. I’m willing to say when I see my far-preferred party doing something I consider unethical, but I also recognize their game theory and why the current circumstances would lead them to make myopic decisions in the interest of short-term survival and at the cost of long-term reputation and public perception.
What all they gonna talk about?!
All the federal judicial seats Biden is about to leave open for trump?
You almost have it.
Let's say they don't pardon Hunter.
Fast forward a couple months to another "perfect" Trump phone call.
"Hey, Joe, we have your son. Here's what you're going to say / do / tell me...."
Who or what is going to stop them from doing that anyway? It’s not like the rule of law will mean anything with all 3 branches under Republican majority control. The enforced disappearance and extortion that you’re implying isn’t going to be averted by a measly pardon given by what will become the opposition party. Pardoning Hunter is not guaranteed to yield any material exemption for him with the guard changing, but it does represent to the public that Democrats consider those who are close to them to be exempt from the rule of law when the law is applicable. It’s both bad optics and likely futile. Biden pardoned him on the slim chance Hunter can navigate past double jeopardy or whatever new undoing of foundational legal precedent the Republicans decide to unleash out of (generally misplaced) vindictiveness.
All the other cases where they sentenced someone with a federal gun charge for lying on the form were plea deals. ABC said they couldn't find any instances of someone being charged and convicted on that charge alone. You can't say this wasn't a politically motivated prosecution when the charge has never been used that way before.
Dem voters for about 20 years:
We need regulations!
Moderates:
No, just enforce what we have! Stop asking for what we need!
Also moderatess:
Are you nuts?! We can't enforce the rules when our side break them!!
So his lame duck period is even more full-throated support for Israel and pardoning his own failson. He could, like, do anything at all that helps people. Any sort of progressive, popular idea that would actually benefit Americans. Hell, even if he failed it would do wonders for his legacy. He could try to do something, anything, to start making up for dragging down the entire party by refusing to drop out earlier, or allow for an actual primary. But nah. Pardons for Hunter.
He could, like, do anything at all that helps people.
You'd think the minimum would be "not leave federal judicial picks open" with him having a D senate this whole time...
https://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/judicial-vacancies/current-judicial-vacancies
Sitting at 42 trump will get to seat if they don't get their shit together. Bidens only nominated 12, so it's almost impossible all 42 gets seated.
If he or the other ghouls wanted to do anything that benefits working people they would have done it when they could get votes for it.
With criminal Trump, having as he does zero respect for laws and legal norms, taking over the DOJ, and literally saying he is going to incarcerate his political enemies, it would be a national security risk for the former president's family to be in federal custody or facing serious federal charges.
I agree. Since Biden believes that Trump is a fascist, and he didn't do this for purely selfish reasons, I expect him to also issue a blanket pardon for all undocumented immigrants as he is granted the power two do under Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution. Otherwise, I'll have choice but to believe that he is a corruot individual who is actually just saving his son from legal consequences of matters already resolved in court.
“Weiss is a COWARD, a smaller version of Bill Barr, who never had the courage to do what everyone knows should have been done,” the former president wrote of U.S. Attorney David Weiss. “He gave out a traffic ticket instead of a death sentence. Because of the two Democrat Senators in Delaware, they got to choose and/or approve him. Maybe the judge presiding will have the courage and intellect to break up this cesspool of crime. The collusion and corruption is beyond description. TWO TIERS OF JUSTICE!”
Yikes. This is not going to go over well.
Well that's a robust fuck you to republicans.
Its not the first time dems look indistinguishable from republicans (who are fascists) on Joe's watch, is it.
Biden is a guy who participated in obvious war crimes that 88% of his party didnt support-- as a democrat.. And imperiously ignored the key issues of the campaign. Of course he's going to pardon his shitty d-bag lobbyist son on the way out the door. Biden has lowered the bar for his party, for democracy, and for the entire western world order straight through the floor and deep into bedrock. We'll need some sort of engineering miracle to ever even raise the bar up to ground level, much less hold it any higher anytime soon.
Most of the country clearly stated that they don't give a fuck about the law. Why should Biden insist on crucifying his son on some cringe gun ownership violation, while the government gets stacked with criminals? and you're going to equate this to republicans? with Trump pardoning all his scumbag cronies who committed crimes on his behalf? The criminal elect who tried to steal the 2020 election? Get the fuck out of here
Why should Biden insist on crucifying his son on some cringe gun ownership violation
He's not "crucifying his son". His son is guilty of tax and gun crimes he clearly committed. If everyone lied on every government form, we couldnt have a country now could we.
Get the fuck out of here
Try to make me.
But Biden said he was the justice guy and he would not intervene!
All the excuses to pardon Hunter out of "fear of Trump" could be used to excuse things that actually helped the public
To all the people in this thread claiming he needed to pardon him or trump would do something, without naming what that something is or using hyperbole, trump doesn't care about hunter. The hunter case was about
Hunter is of no use to the trump administration now, don't try to sell this as anything but a powerful father bailing out his failure of a son.
NOW gives him an excuse? Did you not hear of the 238 pardons Trump gave last time? He needed this to happen as an excuse to do that again this time around?
Good. He should have done so. It was an unfair attack.
On on hand fuck Biden for betraying what little respect I had.
But also rump's bullshit all vanished.
Fuck it.
Liberals are partly to blame. Many workers in the South and Midwest lost their jobs, and liberals responded by looking down their noses at the "dumb country bumpkins" in the flyover states, where the so-called "basket of deplorables" live. They should listen to the educated elites. Democrats focus on social justice instead of jobs and the price of bread, leaving them out of touch with the common person.**
looking down their noses at the "dumb country bumpkins" in the flyover states
Lemmy, every single day.
Rules for thee...
Wait, where are the "hur dur both sides is bullshit" people?
They're here. They're saying " fuck it, nothing matters anymore".
Which, no fuck you Biden for pardoning your son. He committed multiple crimes, including gun laws and convicted in a fair trial.
Fuck you for proving that there is a two tier Justice system.
Fuck you for undermining gun control.
Fuck you for giving yet another example that Democrats are no better than Republicans.
To be fair, I doubt he'd pardon hunter if Kalama won. Can you imagine what would happen to Hunter with DoJ under trump admin? Yes he did crimes, but crimes need to have proportional punishment, which I doubt trump admin is gonna be fair about it.
Feeding your son to a felon president is a bad idea.
To be fair, I doubt he’d pardon hunter if Kalama won.
Why?
He said he wouldn't even if Trump won...
He was going to do it regardless.
Feeding your son to a felon president is a bad idea.
What about everyone gun owner who uses cannabis in a state that legalized cannabis?
Unfortunately crack and weed use would be treated the same under federal law.
Biden can fix that be de-classifying marijuana and help millions of Americans.
But he's only saving one crackhead.
Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 12 for his conviction on federal gun charges. He also was set to be sentenced on Dec. 16 in a separate criminal case in which he pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges in September.
Trump's absolutely screwed up Justice department would have had nothing to do with the sentencing.
For real. I don't think Joe's wrong to say Hunter was singled out, but Hunter still did those things.
Yeah, I also agree but as you can see, people still treat this crap as a team sport instead of treating everyone equally under the law.
I mean hell, how are we supposed to say fuck the trump family for all their shady, illegal behavior with taxes and prosecute them when Democrats are pardoning a tax evader and making excuses when he did do those things regardless of political bullshit.
He also made a huge deal for months(years even?) about how he wasn't going to interfere...
It was obviously billshit and he'd have done this even if Kamala won. But if Bidens fans cared about facts or logic, they wouldn't be fans of Biden.
They just latched onto anyone they were told to who wasn't named trump
What Joe isn't saying is that he's not going to hand his son over to Trump to be used for ransom and influence over Biden as a former president and that this has fuckalll to do with the merits of the case or interests of criminal justice.
"It insults the intelligence of the American people to compare misdemeanor tax charges to a scheme to steal Top Secret documents and obstruct justice when the government asked for them back," he tweeted, comparing the charges against Hunter Biden to the recent federal indictment against former President Donald Trump. "If anything, Hunter Biden was treated harshly — those crimes are rarely charged."
Tax charges?
He was a crackhead that illegally bought a gun after lying on federal forms and then abandoned the gun in a trash can where it was gone by the time his wife found it...
Now, I'm not a CPA, but how is that a "tax charge"?
If anything, Hunter Biden was treated harshly — those crimes are rarely charged.”
I do appreciate that quote literally using Trump's own excuse for tax fraud tho...
But you should but an /s or something or people will think you actually believe what the quote claims.
and convicted in a fair trial.
To be fair, that's kinda just what pardons are for.
I almost want to give Hunter a break because he never would have even been charged if his dad wasn't President. Then I remember how he misused his father's status for personal gain. I figure that takes the first issue off the table.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden was convicted Tuesday of all three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when, prosecutors argued, the president’s son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
Lying on an ATF Form 4473 is almost never prosecuted because much of the language is wishy-washy. Ever filled one out?
The odds of being charged for lying on the form are virtually nonexistent. In the 2019 fiscal year, when Hunter Biden purchased his gun, federal prosecutors received 478 referrals for lying on Form 4473 — and filed just 298 cases. The numbers were roughly similar for fiscal 2020. At issue is when Biden answered “no” on the question that asks about unlawful drug use and addiction when purchasing a gun.
https://www.ncja.org/crimeandjusticenews/few-prosecutions-for-lying-on-atf-gun-purchase-form
How's that moral high horse ride for ya? Winning any elections? No?
How many others wrote an autobiography confessing to the crimes though?
The reason gun laws are so unenforceable, is you have to be a complete moron and confess or you won't lose a trial
Hunter didn't just confess, he put it in a book and sold it, then did press tours admitting to it
He knew it was illegal, he knew the reason others don't get caught is they dont admit to it
But Hunter believed he was above the law despite his dad saying the opposite.
And at the end of the day the 50+ year old crackhead has a former grasp on reality than the US president.
When Biden said :
No one is above the law
We should have demanded he step down immediately, no sane person in America believes that shit. Either he was lying (again) or he's that far gone.
