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Kinda feel like uncle Joe did a lot without bragging about it, then got the shit kicked out of him cause no one took the time to look at his record. Good for him for doing something personal—no doubt the Orange-nado has and will pardon worse.
Straikkeri
These things really bring out the innate hypocrisy in people. People who were loudly against the Trump pardons are openly supportive of Biden doing the same thing. Just goes to show you that the exact same misuse of power is acceptable for a lot of people just as long as it otherwise aligns with their ideals.
lsnasty
Trump pardoned his father in law last time. MAGA can stfu.
Pikachaan
Remember, ALL of the right-wing propaganda around Hunter was about how he was part of the "Biden crime family" and how he had secret corrupt dealings with Burisma in Ukraine. And what did they end up getting him on? Some bullshit charge on lying on a gun form about drugs that isn't even normally prosecuted without a violent crime attached. Fuck all the neolib pearl clutchers crying about hypocrisy and how this is making dems look bad. Feckless cowards.
300Hectares1TankofKerosene
Good. I wish the Dems would have realized 4 yrs ago that they can play the game too. Trump would be in prison.
todspeed
The thing is Hunter Biden became a political Target. The things that he did probably happens to one in 10 families in the upper middle class. I've seen drug addiction and Alcoholism up close and yeah it happens everywhere to anyone. And once it's out of control there's no way to stop it you can't reason with people you just have to learn to grow up and grow out of it. If you survive.
todspeed
He made a mistake in life just the way a lot of other people do and he's admitted that he's guilty of it I don't think he should go to prison
TheCunningLinguists
Good. End this bullshit from the Republican'ts.
NorthGuyWiseGuy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_granted_executive_clemency_by_Donald_Trump'
beeeeeeerkaaaaa
Good. Fuck Republicans. Republicans are disgusting .
miklkit
This is fair. Almost no one gets jail time for what Hunter Biden did. OTOH, Charles Kushner was convicted and jailed of tax evasion and jury tampering and not only got pardoned but will be ambassador to France.
tekcor
Yeah I don’t even care. We elected a lawless buffoon. Biden can use a little of that “the voters don’t give a shit about anything” attitude to get his son off.
Croaked
bourbonandbaddecisions
The next president is a convicted felon. He just nominated a felon he pardoned to be the ambassador to France. Who fucking cares anymore?
SecretAgentSuperBooger
Good. Some sauce: https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/01/politics/hunter-biden-joe-biden-pardon/index.html
Goatfer
Here's some more about all the tax stuff. https://www.justice.gov/sco-weiss/pr/robert-hunter-biden-convicted-three-felony-tax-offenses-and-six-misdemeanor-tax-offenses
bippityboppitybuttsex
Trump is going to pardon everyone who tried to overthrow the gov't on his behalf... he is going to pardon terrorists... war criminals... he is going to end the rule of law when it comes to crimes from his side.
For my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law.
SavageDrums
He pardoned war criminals and terrorists the first time he was in power, can't imagine anything would be different this time.
OneSlaadTwoSlaadRedSlaadBlueSlaad
My pardon brings all the boys to the yard
WigglyBlondeNoodle
Ehh that would require him caring about anyone other than himself, which has never been the orange turds strong suit. Jan6 is long past in his book and he's going to want another quid pro quo before pardoning anybody.
Don't get me wrong, he will probably do it. But just not before those terrorists do something far worse than Jan6 for him.
bippityboppitybuttsex
He pardoned Michael Flynn, he pardoned Manafort, he pardoned Bannon... He pardoned the head of the Kushner Crime Family....
rukeman
Now Hunter can be appointed ambassador somewhere.
Frogspoison
Ok, good for him. Now wheres the pardons for non-violent marijuana users?
Zucr
Honestly, as someone who voted for Biden (even though nobody wanted him), I find this super disappointing. He undercut the democrats message of moral high ground with this one move. It was a very "well, if the other side gets to do it, then so will I" move that we shouldn't tolerate from either side.
scoutMoonDiver
ToSisPoS
We rode this guy out because the right wing billionaire press told us to.
What a fucking sitcom without a laugh track this year was.
Climb512
These comments are cringe. He promised not to do it and then he did it anyway. Trump being worse doesn't make it okay to be a liar in politics. The conservatives will crow over this for years and you sound just like them with their "Hillary did this... Clinton blah blah, You know who's really corrupt is.."
ThatNoPicklePeeThatNoPumpARum
They've been politicizing and investigating him for years to see what could stick for the sole reason of making bad publicity for Biden. I would say a pardon is warranted for this clearly politically motivated trial. If it was anyone else it would have ended with a plea deal instead of this parade of trials and mockery of our justice system.
WeMistbornsNeedNotMakeSense
This is nothing compared to when Trump is going to pardon himself
Vempire
If you want to feel good about it, sure, I get it... but goddamn is that Overton Window shifting to the right with this precedent. Guess it's who we are now; mask's off.
duffman3335
Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, the J6 INSURRECTIONISTS (eventually) to name just a few.
alexstamat
Don’t know about the insurrectionists they failed him so he might not be too pleased with them. Might still sell a pardon to those who can afford it though.
duffman3335
He's said he would, over and over, but he does lie a lot, so...
duffman3335
And THEY didn't fail him. They did just as they were told. PENCE failed him.
awkungen42
Presidents shouldn't have this power, even when they're not on the asshole side, but seeing as Dems couldn't give a fuck about corruption and women's rights because a woman was running for president. I don't give a shit at all anymore, this country is hurriedly turning into a dumpster fire of epic proportions and the only ones who will suffer are poor people. Not the Bidens, not the Trumps. Me and you. But who gives a fuck right, at least Biden and Trump can keep pardoning their family.
awkungen42
But remember, it's America first and Dem leadership say we should act civil so they can keep the status quo going.
Togame21
Wait, how does the last part of your first sentence work? When I try to paraphrase it to understand, I get something like, the dems don't care about corruption and women's rights, because they tried to get a woman president, but that doesn't make very much sense to me. Like, I've heard people here saying that america wasn't ready for a black woman as president, and that it was a mistake to try, but on its own that doesn't mean they don't care about woman's rights.
awkungen42
8 million Dems who voted in the last election for Biden didn't vote in this one. It's not hard to figure out why, at least it seems obvious to me. Especially with what was on the line. Not just the most corrupt politician, but the rights of half the people in this country.
ElTee86
Nah this is actual corruption. Same as trump pardoning Jr. as a dad I get it. But it’s corruption.
FajitaPrinceofAllMexicans
It also looks kinda fuuuucked if this is the only corruption we get when fucking over Republicans would be a nice change of pace.
ElTee86
As a taxpayer / citizen, any corruption should piss you off. Not just when “the other team” does it.
FajitaPrinceofAllMexicans
No. Frankly, I want corruption to screw over the people planning death camps at my ethnicity under the guise of being anti-immigration.
ElTee86
That’s called revenge. Not governance. But I see your point.
FajitaPrinceofAllMexicans
I would call it self-defense given that they're planning to do even more heinous stuff than they've already done. A literal, "He said he would" kinda issue.
blissfire
But is it really all corruption when the reason he was treated exceptionally harshly, in a way a regular person would not be treated, was corrupt itself? I'd say it's at most half corrupt, half justified. :p Just letting him take the full brunt of the Republicans' targeted persecution wouldn't be right, either.
ElTee86
It’s binary. It either is corrupt or isn’t.
applesforjuice
It's half, like you said. But it's still half. He's not interested in pardoning anyone else unjustly imprisoned because of republican political agendas, just his own son. Vastly more corruption coming from his political opponents but this is still corruption.
DocWino
Y’all are so fucking hypocritical. When republicans do this shit y’all are outraged. When a dem does it, it’s you go uncle Joe. This is bs period, no matter who does it and shouldn’t be tolerated. I wish one side would hold their party to higher standards.
RaikuPsycho
What did Hunter do that hurt anyone else that makes this a bad thing to do?
EroticZombiePants
Holding anyone in Democratic Party to any sort of standard at all is holding them to higher standards.
Margrave9000
Fascists sobbing never cease to amuse me.
IrrelevantIrrelevant
We did hold our party to higher standards. Then dumbfucks let trump in anyway.
You don't get to howl about corruption when a literal felon is about to walk into one of the most dangerous positions in the world. Bidens kid was a nothingburger who wouldn't have been worth a footnote on a tuesday morning paper, the only reason you know his name is because the R's turned him into persona non grata to hurt Biden. Were I in the same position, I'd sign the thing *With* my middle finger.
DocWino
I disagree. The rules don’t go out the window when you’re down. You don’t give up morals because the other side did. If Trump did this for his kid you’d lose your shit.
IrrelevantIrrelevant
Trump *already did* shit like this. He has already signed pardons for terrible people. Pretending that I have to give a shit about turnabout because "Oh, that's not respecting the rules"? It's stupid.
The law has failed in every way, because a treasonous bastard is about to take the presidency and is filling it with the worst people in our history right now. Biden should be doing more with what power he has left, not less. I care far more about the lives Trump is about to ruin than Bidens kid.
PostalHeathen
On its face, using the pardon power like that is a nakedly corrupt act. Still, I get it. The incoming administration cannot be trusted to treat him fairly, and a father using every means at his disposal to protect his son is very understandable. Had Harris been elected, he almost certainly wouldn't have done it.
SVMerlin
Understandable. Yes it's understandable. But we should remember that Hunter Biden is not without resources. Suggest seeking status abroad as a political refugee.
TheCunningLinguists
The prosecution of Hunter Biden was political. Anyone else would've had a deal (which he got, but which was rescinded for political bullshit). There is nothing corrupt about ending this pile of bullshit crap from the R's
Zucr
You're a buffoon if you think granting a pardon for ELEVEN years of ??? acts is only to protect from the things he was charged with. There is certainly other information we don't know.
SVMerlin
Hmmm. Thinking there's plenty more political crap ahead.
leechdemon
I think the sentiment is that it's self-serving (his family, personally), which I agree with.
That said, that pardon probably saved his son's life, and I don't think anybody would disagree with that. It's self-serving, but justified imo.
SVMerlin
I'll say it again: Hunter could seek status abroad as a political refugee.
bippityboppitybuttsex
This is precisely why the Constitution granted pardon power to the president, to undo miscarriages of justice... his kid broke the law, yes, and had a plea deal, ready to go, until a Trump-appointed judge killed the deal and made it go to trial...
These cases never go to trial for a first offense.
PostalHeathen
True. Still, using it on family isn't really a good look, even if I understand and agree with the reasons.
bippityboppitybuttsex
Trump pardoned his son-in-law's dad....
PostalHeathen
Oh, yeah, Trump's a corrupt scumbag to his very core. I'm ok with the gloves coming off to oppose him.
bippityboppitybuttsex
When they go low, staying high let's them kneecap you....
Tylurker
Calling it nakedly corrupt after watching all of the pardons Trump doled out to his entire syndicate of actual criminals is wild. Biden used the pardon for EXACTLY its intended purpose, and calling it anything else is either misinformed or willfully ignorant.
SVMerlin
No. Not willfully ignorant. Cognizant that many far more vulnerable people in this country need their president to step up before he leaves office. Hunter Biden has resources, among them being an upper-class white male.
NaughtButOne
Two things can be true. Using an executive pardon when other avenues, like appeal or calling an investigation into the railroading of sentencing, especially for a family member is, no-two-ways-about-it, corrupt. It's not what *should* be done.
But there are a lot of things these days that shouldn't be done. Tit-for-tat is not good political policy, but fuck it. It's apparently all the voters understand.
MAN9000
In this case, Biden's pardon was countering naked corruption.
NaughtButOne
Once again, two things can be true. If you fight fire with fire, you're still starting fires.
TheGhostofElizabethShue
Thought he might, and I give not one shit. Owning guns and not paying taxes, Hunter should be a right wing darling. Something to ask anyone who does care: who did Trump pardon and what for. I'll be surprised if they even know.
Shigoshi
For the humour: wasn't it a group of PMC guys (can't remember, blackwater or some other edge lord name) on charges of war crimes which i believe was gunning down civilians. Or was that just ONE of the pardons he gave out.
pleaseconsiderthatImightbejoking
Michael Flynn should be on tge top of the list.
csullivan
csullivan
FlyingButtPliers
Stoneagedudeman
Good for him. I approve of this abuse of presidential power
OhIfIMust
Now do a whole bunch more, stuff that benefits the rest of us schlubs.
INeverWaitForIt
I wouldn't even call it abuse. Given the administration coming it, it's entirely justifiably prudent to remove his only child from the clutches of people who have put children in cages to die, are working to set up literal concentration camps, and were gleeful at the prospect of thousands of people dying from covid as long as they were on the other side. I have no doubt Biden would have left his son without a pardon had Harris won, or even if a sane republican administration coming in.
Stoneagedudeman
Look. It's strictly an abuse. Buts it's one we understand and we also see that it's not a breaking, just a bending of the rule. So it's fine.
IgnisInvictus
Yep. Totally approve this abuse.
Why? Fuck it. Why not? Trump is going to pardon everyone who participated in the insurrection, so why the fuck not?
TheGriffin
Now pardon everyone on death row
EroticZombiePants
Can he rescind the death row ruling without pardoning someone? Because many of the people on death row are not fit to exist in society and would have gotten life in prison without parole in the non death penalty states.
TheGriffin
Don't know, don't care. If even one is innocent then death row shouldn't exist.
And we know that trump is going to go on another killing spree, so death row has to cease immediately. Biden should commute all of their sentences from death row.
He won't, of course. Partially because he's a coward who believes in the system. But he should
RaikuPsycho
if you guys wouldn't use minorities as slaves in prisons, maybe you'd have the space to accommodate a room to all of the people who are on death row.
EroticZombiePants
Death Row inmates are disproportionately minorities too. Harsher sentencing for minorities goes all the way from the bottom to the very top.