Trump condemns Biden’s pardon despite his own record

WASHINGTON: Following United States President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, president-elect Donald Trump had some choice words the head of state on Monday, despite his own history of abusing the power.

“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!” wrote Trump on Truth Social. ‘J-6 Hostages’ refers to those involved in the January 6 riots which resulted in the deaths of multiple people. Trump has vehemently defended those convicted of their involvement in January 6, even comparing them to Japanese internment camp victims during his campaign.  

In a statement, Biden expressed his belief that his son was treated differently, claiming that Hunter was treated differently due to pressure put on by Biden’s political opponents in order to undermine the current president. This in turn brought an end to a plea deal that Biden wrote “would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.”

“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,” wrote Biden. He ended his statement by summarising his belief that politics influenced Hunter’s case and led to a miscarriage of justice.

President Biden saves son from prison time

Republican Representative James Comer echoed Trump’s feelings, stating that the president “has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities.” What Trump and his supporters like Comer maybe forgetting is Trump’s own abuses of the power, which also involve his family.

TRUMP’S PARDONS (CHARLES KUSHNER)

Biden is not the only president to pardon family members. Trump did it himself in 2020, when he pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law. Kushner was convicted of tax evasion and witness tampering. His later crime came from a scheme the disbarred former attorney hatched to intimidate his sister and brother in law in order to stop them from testifying against him.

Charles hired a prostitute to seduce his brother in law and film the encounter, planning to send the videotape to his sister, in an attempt to dissuade them both from testifying. On August 18, 2005, Kushner plead guilty to one count of retaliating against a cooperating witness, one count of making a false statement to the Federal Election Commission, and 16 counts of assisting in the filing of false tax returns.

After granting the pardon, he lauded Kushner as a “tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker.” On November 30, Trump picked Kushner to be the US ambassador to France.

From “rocketships to nowhere” to attending Thanksgiving dinner together

Two other instances that illustrate Trump’s abuse of the power came in the president-elect’s swarm of last second pardons during the closing moments of his first presidency, as he issued pardons for Steve Bannon and Elliot Broidy. Bannon took advantage of Trump’s own supporters thought he “We Build the Wall” organisation, partly using donations which totalled over $25 million dollars to service his own lifestyle. While the scheme involved multiple people, Bannon was accused of taking over $1 million.

Broidy pleaded guilty to lobbying the government on behalf of Chinese interests. The Justice Department also claimed that Broidy “poses a serios threat to our national security and undermines the integrity of our democracy.