ATLANTA (AP) — Already reeling from their defeats in November, Democrats now have to deal with the pardon that President Joe Biden granted to his son, with some calling the move misguided and reckless after the party spent years criticizing Donald Trump as a threat to democracy who disregarded the law.
The president pardoned Hunter Biden on Sunday night, reversing his previous promises with a clemency grant that covers over a decade of any federal crimes his son may have committed. The 82-year-old president said in a statement that the trials against his son for tax evasion and falsification of a firearms purchase form were politically motivated.
President Biden "believes in the judicial system, but he also believes that politics infected the process and led to a judicial error," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who along with Biden and other White House officials insisted for months that Hunter Biden would not receive a pardon.
That explanation did not satisfy some Democrats, who were upset because Biden's reversal could make it harder to confront Trump, who has argued that the lawsuits against him were a concocted campaign by Biden and the Democrats.
"This is a bad precedent that could be abused by future presidents and unfortunately will tarnish his reputation," wrote Colorado Governor Jared Polis about Biden on the social media platform X.
"When you become president, your role is that of the head of the nation's family," continued the governor, referring to the president invoking fatherhood to explain his decision. "Hunter caused his own legal problems, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also recognizing that no one is above the law, neither a president nor a president's son."
The Democratic representative for Arizona, Greg Stanton, said in X: "This was not a political persecution. Hunter committed serious crimes and was convicted by a jury of his peers."
Colorado Senator Michael Bennet said that Biden "put personal interest ahead of duty" with a decision that "further erodes Americans' faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all." Michigan Senator Gary Peters said that the pardon was "an abuse of power" that erodes faith in government and "emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests."
Democratic Senator from Vermont Peter Welch described the pardon as "understandable" if seen only as the "action of a loving father." However, the senator said that Biden's status as "our Chief Executive of the nation" made the decision "imprudent."
Certainly, the president has Democratic supporters who point out Trump's use of presidential power to pardon a number of his aides, associates, and friends, several for activities related to Trump's campaign and his first administration.
"Trump pardoned Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort, as well as his son-in-law's father, Charles Kushner, whom he just appointed as the U.S. ambassador to France," wrote prominent Democratic fundraiser Jon Cooper in X.
The chairman of the National Democratic Committee, Jaime Harrison, said that "there is no standard for Donald Trump, and the highest standard for Democrats and Joe Biden." Harrison pointed out that Trump's apparent plans to dismiss FBI Director Christopher Wray and replace him with loyalist Kash Patel could indicate that the pursuit of Hunter Biden may not be over.
"Most people will see that Joe Biden did the right thing," Harrison said.
First Lady Jill Biden said on Monday from the White House: "Of course I support the pardon of my son."
Democrats are already facing the prospect of a Republican trifecta in Washington, with voters sending Trump back to the White House and giving Republicans control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Part of their argument against Trump and Republican leaders will likely be that the president-elect is breaking norms with his talk of retaliating against his enemies.
Before defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump faced his own legal problems, including two cases that arose from his efforts to overturn his defeat against Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential elections. Those cases, including Trump's sentencing after being convicted of business fraud charges in the state of New York, have been dismissed or indefinitely delayed since Trump's victory on November 5, forcing the Democrats to recalibrate their approach towards the president-elect.
In June, President Biden firmly ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters as his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case: "I stand by the jury's decision. I will do that and not pardon him."
As recently as November 8, days after Trump's victory, Jean-Pierre ruled out a pardon or clemency for the youngest son, saying: "We have been asked that question several times. Our answer remains the same, which is no."
The president's change of mind came weeks before Hunter Biden received his punishment after being convicted in the weapons case trial and pleading guilty to tax charges. This ended a long legal saga for Biden's youngest son, who disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020, a month after his father's victory in 2020.
The general pardon covers not only the crimes of arms and tax offenses against Biden's younger son, but also any other "crime against the United States that he may have committed or participated in during the period from January 1, 2014 to December 1, 2024."
Hunter Biden was convicted in June in the federal court of Delaware on three felony charges for purchasing a firearm in 2018 when, according to prosecutors, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using drugs or addicted to them. He was scheduled to stand trial in September in a California case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. However, he agreed to plead guilty to lesser and more serious charges in a surprise move hours after jury selection began.
In his Sunday statement, the president argued that such crimes are typically not prosecuted with the same vigor as was directed against Hunter Biden.
“The charges in his cases arose only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said in his statement. “No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than that Hunter was targeted just because he is my son. ... I hope that Americans understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.”