President Biden has pardoned his son, Hunter. The pardon applies to all offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden "has committed or may have committed" from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 1, 2024.
In doing so, President Biden broke a pledge he made on June 13, 2024. Biden, while speaking at the G7 Summit in Italy, said he would not pardon or commute his son, Hunter’s, Federal gun charge: "I said I abide by the jury decision. I will do that. And I will not pardon him."
To be honest, I’m glad President Biden pardoned his son following his plea of guilty. Now, I hope that President Biden pardons himself.
Joe Biden is too old to ever run for President again. And in closing the mishandling of “classified documents case” against Joe Biden, Special Counsel Robert Hur, gave as his reason for not prosecuting, that President Biden would be difficult to convict, describing him as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
But if President Biden were somehow convicted of “something,” there is no likelihood whatsoever, given his dementia, and his years of honorable service to the country, that he would ever be imprisoned even for a day.
Better to let him fade into the political twilight. Better to let history say what it will about him.
If, however, Joe Biden doesn’t pardon himself, I hope that President Trump pardons him directly upon taking office.
Special Counsel Jack Smith and the DOJ (according to Smith’s “Statements of Expenditures”) spent $35.7M to prosecute President Trump through March 31, 2024. Additional expenditures thru 30 Sept. 2024 are estimated at $14M.
Is it worth an additional $50 million to have the DOJ or a Special Counsel, prosecute President Biden? Or might the Republic have a better use for $50M?
In the period running up to the November 2024 election, the prosecutions against President Trump — especially Special Counsel Smith’s “Classified Documents” case, and Judge Merchan’s bizarre “fraud” case — had the effect of making a “martyr” out of President Trump in the eyes of a majority of the popular voters.
Nearly two thousand years ago, Tertullian, a father of the Christian Church, wrote, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." In saying that, Tertullian meant that the suffering and death of martyrs for their faith actually helps to strengthen the Christian Church.
The Democrats’ “lawfare” against Trump had the unintended consequence of making a martyr of President Trump, and encouraging the voters to vote for a man willing to stand and fight it.
President Trump would be foolish to make the same mistake. It would be counter-productive to make President Biden a martyr, and give the Democrats cause to which to rally.
The Ancient Athenians used large jury trials to decide criminal cases. On one occasion, they empaneled a jury of 5000.
In November the American people formed a jury of 153,000,000. President Trump won the majority. He was vindicated on all charges, and elected as the 47th President.
The people have spoken. They didn’t like “lawfare.” They won’t like it any better if President Biden is the target.
First Published in the Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus on January 3rd, 2025. Copyright 2025, John Donald O'Shea
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