Biden’s pardon proves there is no equality before the law in America

IN NEW YORK – When Joe Biden He withdrew from the presidential race in July and was praised for putting his country before himself.

Now, later forgives son Hunter For gun and tax crimes, the President faces the same charge only in reverse: putting his family before his country.

Biden’s amnesty decision It has sent shockwaves through Washington for his rebellious former drug-addict son, and it will have profound implications for him. Donald Trump‘s presidency.

This also further tarnishes Biden’s already battered legacy. Kamala Harris lost the election A lawsuit has been filed against Trump following accusations that he stayed in the race too long and hurt the Vice President’s chances.

The most striking aspect of Biden’s statement announcing the pardon was that he essentially adopted Trump’s claim that the justice system had become politicized.

In the words of the President: “Crude politics has infected this process and led to the perversion of justice.” “In trying to break Hunter, they tried to break me, too, and there is no reason to believe it will stop there,” Biden wrote. “That’s enough.”

If you squint a little, it might remind you of a former president who claimed for years that he was the victim of a “WITCH HUNT!!!”

Trump is already saying he will release the jailed Capitol rioters on January 6 in response; This is a sign that he is outraged at the hypocrisy of the President’s decision.

Republicans can rally now Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to run the FBIWho claimed the bureau was part of a “deep state” conspiracy against the former president.

What makes this worse is that the amnesty covers possible crimes for a period of 11 years, an extraordinary period that pushes the limits of amnesties.

Moreover, Biden and his team have repeatedly stated that the President will not pardon his son.

After Hunter was found in June, Biden said, “I will not forgive him.” guilty of weapons charges. He was due to be sentenced this month for that case and separate tax allegations. pleaded guilty to thisand he was facing up to 20 years in prison for both.

However, Biden’s other comments in the same statement also provide clues as to why he changed his mind.

Biden said he has “boundless love” for his son, who survived the 1972 car crash that killed Hunter’s mother, Neilia, and his 13-month-old sister, Naomi.

Hunter, who was three at the time, also survived brother BeauHe was 4 years old, but tragedy struck again in 2015 when Beau died of a brain tumor at the age of 46.

Hunter’s troubled life, including years of drug use, a torrid affair with Beau’s widow that destroyed his own marriage, and another affair with a stripper with whom he had a baby, were blamed for the trauma of the crash.

For decades, his father stood by him and showed Hunter an extraordinary amount of affection despite his many stints in rehab.

In his clemency announcement, Biden said he hoped Americans “will understand why a father and a president came to this decision.”

As a father, maybe you can understand why he did this. But there is a fundamental tension behind his decision: As president, he should not have done this.

If you’re being all Machiavellian, another way to look at this is that Democrats may end up playing Republicans at their own game: doing whatever it takes to get what they want.

Biden’s calculation appears to be that he may have burned his own reputation, but his son won’t go to prison.

Republicans have been doing this for years; The most striking example of this was former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell blocking Barack Obama from appointing a Supreme Court justice in the final months of his presidency.

At the time, Democrats were screaming that this wasn’t fair, but it ultimately worked, and there is now a Republican majority on the nation’s highest court.

Trump has his share of very bad pardons; these include former strategist Steve Bannon, who was convicted of fraud; Former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was convicted of fraud and conspiracy to obstruct an investigation into himself; and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, whom Trump has now appointed as ambassador to France, and who was sentenced to prison for tax evasion, witness tampering and campaign finance crimes.

The price, of course, is the erosion of public trust in the cornerstone of American democracy, the idea that all people are equal before the law.

It is impossible not to see Biden forgiving his son as evidence that this is definitely not the case.