President-elect Donald Trump criticized President Joe Biden for pardoning his son, suggesting it was even more controversial than Trump’s own plans to pardon people who rioted at the Capitol.
Biden announced clemency for his son on Sunday evening, reversing his prior vow not to pardon Hunter Biden and claiming he’d been unfairly targeted by the Justice Department.
Trump, who pardoned friends and political allies during his first term, called the Biden pardon an abuse of power in a statement on his social media website.
“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 wrote.
More than 1,500 of Trump’s supporters have been charged with crimes for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when they stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop Congress from certifying Trump’s election loss to Biden the previous November. More than 500 have been charged with assaulting or interfering with police officers, dozens of whom suffered injuries.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to pardon the rioters, many of whom now expect to get out of prison thanks to Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris last month. Trump’s pardon promise is easily one of his most controversial campaign pledges, with even some Republican lawmakers saying people who attacked police should do their time.
Trump’s response to the Hunter Biden pardon suggests that Republicans will use it to justify or deflect criticism from Trump’s controversial pardons.
Hunter Biden faced prison for illegally owning a gun for a brief period in 2018 and for failing to pay his federal income taxes on time. President Biden repeatedly said he would not use executive clemency powers to help his son, and Democrats frequently pointed to the ongoing prosecution of Hunter Biden as evidence that the justice system wasn’t “weaponized” against Republicans.
On Sunday, Biden reversed course. In a statement echoing his son, his son’s legal team, and even Trump himself, Biden complained the prosecution was politically motivated.
“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said, noting that people are rarely prosecuted merely for late taxes or illegal ownership of a firearm not used in some other crime.
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The case was brought by David Weiss, a Delaware U.S. attorney originally appointed by Trump, allowed to remain in his position to finish the case by Biden, and even given special counsel status so he could file the tax charges in California. Weiss initially sought a plea deal with Hunter Biden but the agreement collapsed amid heavy criticism from Republicans, who considered it a slap on the wrist.
Republican lawmakers have made some of the case files public as part of their unsuccessful impeachment inquiry against the president. The documents showed investigators considered other charges against the younger Biden, including for failing to register as an agent of foreign clients. It’s possible President Biden believed his son could face additional charges during the second Trump administration.
“I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” Biden said.