Biden justified the pardon as a response to politically motivated attacks, while Republicans, many of whom have stood by President-elect Donald Trump despite his extensive legal troubles, unleashed their fury.
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, has thrown the Republican Party into an uproar, exposing what critics have called brazen hypocrisy within the GOP. Biden justified the pardon as a response to politically motivated attacks, while Republicans, many of whom have stood by President-elect Donald Trump despite his extensive legal troubles, unleashed their fury.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung accused Biden of undermining justice. “The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system,” Cheung said. “That system of justice must be fixed, and due process must be restored for all Americans.”
Trump, a 34-time convicted felon who has pledged to pardon the January 6 rioters, quickly weighed in on Biden’s decision. “Does the pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump also selected Rep. Matt Gaetz as head of the DOJ despite the Florida congressman’s myriads of legal woes that include allegations of statutory rape.
In an attempt to advance Gaetz’s candidacy, Georgia GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene declared last month that numerous Republicans harbor criminal pasts.
Despite Trump’s 91 criminal charges, 34 convictions, adjudicated sexual assault civil conviction, and civil liabilities, Republican leaders took aim at Biden. Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona declared on X, “Biden will go down as one of the most corrupt presidents in American history.”
Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, who chairs the House Oversight Committee and has made Hunter Biden a central focus of his investigations, accused Biden of shielding his family from accountability. “Rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability,” Comer wrote on X.
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa expressed regret, stating, “I’m shocked President Biden pardoned his son Hunter because he said many times he wouldn’t and I believed him Shame on me.” Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas claimed the decision would erode public trust in the justice system, even as Trump’s legal troubles remain unprecedented.
In his statement, Biden pointed to what he called “raw politics” driving his son’s prosecution. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son—and that is wrong,” Biden said.
He went on to describe the toll the years-long attacks have taken on his family. “In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me—and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough,” Biden declared.
