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Stephen M Lepore
Critics of Joe Biden’s shock pardon of his son Hunter have noted a key detail that connects the reprieve to the younger Biden’s time on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
The bombshell U-turn decision to grant Hunter a pardon comes just weeks after The White House denied the president would make the drastic move in the final months of his lame duck presidency.
The document grants a full and unconditional pardon for Hunter’s potential crimes committed ‘from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.’
This has led many to theorize that there is something lurking underneath the pardon which is meant to acquit Hunter Biden of charges that came to light in 2018.
“Hunter Biden joined the board of Burisma in 2014,” wrote conservative commentator Liz Wheeler. “By pardoning Hunter for any crimes he ‘may have committed’ from 2014-2024, Joe Biden is protecting his family’s criminal cartel. Wow.”
She added that Biden is protecting his son from the possible new head of the FBI: “This pardon ain’t about the gun charge. The Big Guy is protecting himself from Kash Patel.”
Hunter referred to his father, Joe, as “the big guy” in a 2017 email about a business deal that raked in millions for the Biden family and their cohorts.
“Truly incredible that Joe Biden pardoned Hunter starting in 2014 — the year he was appointed a board member of Burisma,” wrote Greg Price. ‘You can’t make it up.’
A White House official denied the pardon had anything to do with Trump’s announcement he will name Kash Patel to run the FBI and install other loyalists.
“No — this is in response to what has already happened in this case, in which political pressure has resulted in a miscarriage of justice,” said the official.
Hunter joined the board of Burisma in 2014 and was paid millions for his role in the company despite not having a background in the gas or energy industries.
Multiple accusations stem from Hunter’s behaviour while on the board.
In 2023, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed the younger Biden helped coordinate a plan with Democrat strategists to “close down any cases” against the owner of allegedly corrupt Ukrainian gas firm and “gain intelligence” on the country’s top prosecutor’s office.
The emails bolster claims by ex-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin that the First Son and his then-Vice President dad conspired to kill Shokin’s criminal investigation of Burisma.
On May 12, 2014, the day before Hunter’s $1 million-per-year appointment to Burisma’s board was publicly announced, executive Vadym Pozharskyi emailed the then-VP’s son from his personal Gmail account. Pozharskyi warned Hunter that the firm’s owner Mykola Zlochevsky was likely under criminal investigation in Ukraine.
Fox News broadcast an interview with Shokin, where he repeated his previous allegations that Joe Biden got him fired over his Burisma probe.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Biden, while sitting on the board of Burisma, and then the sitting vice president’s son, wrote at least one letter to the US ambassador to Italy, John R Phillips, for help.
Hunter wanted to get in contact with the president of Tuscany, a region in central Italy where Burisma sought to arrange a geothermal energy venture, clearly working to forward the company’s interests in the area.
A White House spokesperson denied the president knew about the outreach his son made to the embassy in Italy.
However, conservatives jumped on the alleged attempts at influence peddling.
Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley similarly posted: “We learn this only after Joe Biden has been put out to pasture. Total coincidence, I’m sure.”
Another Senate Republican, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, wrote: “Not surprisingly, Burisma didn’t pay Hunter Biden $1 million/year for his oil-and-gas expertise.”
Some of those allegations, though probed by the House GOP and prosecutors over a period of years, did not result in charges. House Republicans also shelved their impeachment inquiry against the president. Joe made the shock announcement Sunday night that he would issue a presidential pardon for his troubled son Hunter, calling his prosecution “selective” and “unfair.”
“From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” Biden said in a statement.
The president claimed that people are “almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form.”
He then added: “It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.”
Biden raged against “several of my political opponents in Congress” who he claimed made the charges a public spectacle “to attack me and oppose my election.”
He added that the plea deal Hunter agreed to with the Department of Justice was a “fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.” But that deal fell through at the last minute under political pressure.
Hunter released a statement of his own, credited to his full name, “Robert Hunter Biden.”
“I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction — mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” he said. “Despite all of this, I have maintained my sobriety for more than five years because of my deep faith and the unwavering love and support of my family and friends.”
“In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages. In recovery we can be given the opportunity to make amends where possible and rebuild our lives if we never take for granted the mercy that we have been afforded.”
“I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”
The pardon will cover both the gun charges and Hunter’s guilty plea.
For months, the nation wondered if the president would pardon his ne’er-do-well son over his convictions on federal gun and tax fraud charges.
NBC News first reported on Sunday night that Biden was planning to pardon his son. Minutes later, the White House released a statement.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Donald Trump slammed what they called the Democrat-controlled justice system but didn’t appear to disagree with the decision.
“The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponising the justice system. That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people,” Steven Cheung told DailyMail.com.
However, on Truth Social, he was a little angrier, wondering if the same courtesy would be given to those charged for their acts at the Capitol on January 6.
He wrote: “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!”
Other Republicans accused President Biden of lying and corruption after the president’s stunning Sunday night reversal to pardon his son Hunter — but the deeper cut came from a prominent member of his own party.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, ripped Biden’s lame duck decision and accused the chief of his party of putting “family ahead of the country.”
“While as a father I certainly understand President @JoeBiden’s natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country,” Polis wrote.
“This is a bad precedent that could be abused by latter Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation.”
Polis endorsed Biden in 2020 and even held back when there were early calls for Biden to step aside after his debate disaster.
“Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities,” wrote Comer in a post on X.
“Not only has he falsely claimed that he never met with his son’s foreign business associates and that his son did nothing wrong, but he also lied when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden.”
One prominent conservative, Charlie Kirk, was prepared to cut Biden some slack.
“Honestly, I don’t think this is something worth getting mad over. A father should look after his son. Joe has been so mistreated by the Democrat party and disrespected, this is the one thing he’s actually always cared about,” he wrote.
Others in the media and political class also weighed in.
‘The White House consistently lied about this,’ wrote pollster Nate Silver.
‘Biden’s stubborn insistence on running for reelection was perhaps the singular most important factor in Trump 2.0, and now he’s kicking salt in the wound of the party brand he helped to destroy,’ wrote Silver.
Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives the president blanket power to pardon any federal crime, something most outgoing presidents do in their final days in office, some controversial, others routine.
Other presidents have issued controversial pardons – usually in the final days of their presidency.
In 1974, President Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor Richard Nixon for any crimes he had ‘committed or may have committed’ in the Watergate scandal. This was the first pre-emptive pardon by a president.
In 2001, President Bill Clinton pardoned 140 people on his last day in office including billionaire Marc Rich, who had been a fugitive for decades for fraud related to making illegal oil deals and not paying more than $48 million in taxes.
Family pardons are also not unheard of in presidential history. Before he left office, Clinton granted brother Roger a controversial presidential pardon for a 1985 cocaine-trafficking conviction.
Trump himself pardoned Charles Kushner, father of son-in-law and ex-advisor Jared, before leaving office in 2020. Kushner was [on December 1, 2024] named the US ambassador to France.
In the last 12 hours of his presidency, Donald Trump pardoned and commuted the sentences of 144 people, including former advisors Stephen Bannon and Roger Stone, as well as the rapper Lil Wayne.
Lowell has reiterated that the only reason Hunter is facing conviction is out of political gain for his father’s enemies.
‘It is a wild and terrifying story that serves as a stark warning of what is to come as some of the same Republicans who targeted Hunter prepare to resume power and have stated their intention to use the government’s vast power to pursue their perceived enemies,’ Lowell told the Washington Post.
In June, Biden repeated his vow not to pardon his son in his first public comments on Hunter since last week’s conviction. Hunter could face up to 25 years in prison.
He also said he was satisfied his son got a fair trial and reiterated his support for him.
‘I’m extremely proud of my son Hunter. He has overcome an addiction. He’s one of the brightest, most decent men I know. And I am satisfied that I’m not going to do anything. I said I would abide by the jury decision. I will do that. And I will not pardon him,’ Biden said on Thursday.
And he answered a simple ‘no’ when asked directly if he would commute Hunter’s sentence.
Both Biden and his spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre have repeatedly denied Hunter will be pardoned by his father.
When asked in November – just over 24 hours after the presidential election was called in Trump’s favor – whether Biden has any intention of pardoning his son, Jean-Pierre responded, ‘We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.’
Hunter Biden has grappled with addiction issues for years.
The trial revealed some of the family’s darkest moments as they dealt with Hunter’s drug use.
In the June gun purchase case, jurors found Hunter Biden guilty of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user, and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
Hunter faces up to 25 years in prison although as a first-time offender he would not get anywhere near the maximum, and there’s no guarantee the judge would send him to jail.
In the September tax case, Hunter could face up to 17 years in prison for his crimes, which include tax evasion, filing fraudulent tax returns, and failing to pay taxes. The judge also could impose a hefty fine, perhaps as much as $1.3 million.
The judges in both cases were appointed by President Trump. – The Daily Mail
