US President Joe Biden has been criticized by some of his own supporters for deciding to pardon his son Hunter, despite not long ago he promised not to interfere in the work of the court, writes in “Guardian“.
The president's decision drew predictable criticism from Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump, who used it to raise the issue of the jailed ringleaders of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, the paper said. Trump has hinted more than once that he intends to pardon them when he returns to the White House.
Still, the condemnation of Biden's decision about his son by his own party members — some of whom said he gave Trump justification to use the president's pardon power as he saw fit — is likely to be more painful. for Biden, commented the newspaper.
Democrats have accused Joe Biden of putting “family before country” by pardoning his son on federal charges of crimes related to tax and gun laws, the British newspaper reported. “Telegraph“.
According to prominent Democratic representatives, the president laid the groundwork for politically motivated clemency deals by Donald Trump, the publication said.
The ruling could also make it more difficult for his party to challenge potential pardons from Trump, as well as prevent the president-elect from using the Justice Department to “retaliate” of his political enemies, the "Telegraph" points out.
The scope of the pardon is remarkable, writes c. “Washington Post”. The publication cited experts who said there was almost no precedent for a pardon covering such a wide range of activities over such a long period.
There is some question about whether such a sweeping pardon for unspecified crimes is even constitutionally sound, a question that has been debated since reports emerged in Trump's first term that he might preemptively pardon family members. notes the newspaper.
Biden pardoned his son not only for his convictions on charges of tax and gun violations, but also for all “crimes against the United States that he has committed or may have committed or in which he is participated in the period from January 1, 2014. until December 1, 2024”, states the American capital publication.
That's a period of almost 11 years during which Hunter Biden may have committed any federal crime, and it mostly covers the time he was appointed to the board of the Ukrainian energy company “Burisma” in 2014 and extends until Sunday - well after the period of committing the crimes for which he is accused, commented “Washington Post”.
There was a time, not so long ago, when President Biden imagined he would go down in history as the leader who ended Trump's chaotic administration, passed a series of infrastructure laws to transform the country, and restored America's place in the world. writes in “New York Times“.
His son's pardon comes at a time when Biden's political legacy is already in question after his party's crushing election defeat, for which many Democrats blame the current president rather than Vice President Kamala Harris, the publication said. His decision to attack Americans' trust in their justice system to protect his son soured sentiment among his supporters, who sympathized with him as a father but were shocked that he broke his own promise to respect the court's decision, the paper noted.
Now, in the final days of his administration, it seems increasingly likely that Biden will be remembered as the president who refused to drop out of the presidential race before it was too late, paved the way for Trump's return to power and, in the last a gesture of personal gain at the expense of principles, pardoned his own son, convicted of a number of crimes, concludes the “New York Times”.