Hunter Biden’s Pardon Ruins A Key Democratic Talking Point About The Justice System

President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son has undermined an argument Democrats often made over the past two years.
In response to Republican claims the government had been “weaponized” against them, such as by the Justice Department prosecuting Donald Trump, Democrats would point out that the government was also prosecuting Hunter Biden ― without any interference or criticism from the president.
“Joe Biden never publicly questioned or challenged this prosecution,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said at a House Oversight Committee hearing last year, noting that Trump criticized the Justice Department for prosecuting his allies and then gave them pardons before he left office.
“President Biden’s traditional and scrupulous respect for the independence of the Justice Department stands in sharp contrast to Trump’s spectacular disrespect for the rule of law,” Raskin said.
At a House Judiciary Committee hearing in June, Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) noted that both Trump and Hunter Biden had recently stood trial and that Trump insisted his trial was rigged while President Biden said he would accept the outcome of his son’s case. Biden also said, repeatedly, that he wouldn’t pardon his son.
“How President Biden and Democrats reacted to a guilty verdict in a case against the president’s son was remarkably different from what we saw in terms of the reaction by former president Trump, his family, his allies and acolytes,” Escobar said. “Democrats are not attacking the institutions that are important to our democracy, but unfortunately, Republicans are. And it’s devastating to the future of our democracy.”
At another judiciary hearing that month with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) approvingly noted the ongoing prosecution of Hunter Biden.
“One of the things that makes America great is we are ruled by the law, not by a cult of personality,” Lieu said. “And I want to thank you, Attorney General Garland, and the Department of Justice, for applying the law without fear or favoritism. And I note as we sit here today, the Department of Justice is prosecuting Hunter Biden in a federal court right now.”
In announcing the sweeping pardon of Hunter Biden on Sunday, the president for the first time criticized the criminal cases against his son, essentially decrying the prosecutions as a witch hunt.
“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 Sunday.
The younger Biden faced prison time for having illegally owned a gun while he was addicted to drugs in 2018 and for failing to pay his taxes on time. He was awaiting sentencing this month after having pleaded guilty to the tax charges and been found guilty by a jury of the gun charge. Experts have called the charges unusual because the gun wasn’t used in a crime and because Hunter belatedly paid the taxes with the help of a wealthy benefactor.
Hunter initially reached a plea deal with prosecutors, but it fell apart last year amid heavy criticism from Republicans in Congress, who were simultaneously running an impeachment inquiry alleging the president participated in his son’s foreign business deals and pulled strings to stop prosecutors from pursuing more serious charges.
“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,” Joe Biden wrote in his statement about the pardon. “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.”
Trump frequently whined that his own case was a miscarriage of justice personally directed by Biden. He faced federal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his hoarding of government documents after leaving office.
Of Trump’s charges, Biden and Democrats often said, “No one is above the law.” Since Sunday, Republicans have been gleefully throwing the line back in their faces.
“Do Democrats still think no one is above the law?” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said.
House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said the apparent exceptions to the “no one is above the law” mantra include Hunter Biden, “illegal aliens” and looting rioters.
Joe Biden: “No one is above the law.”Unless you’re:-Hunter Biden-Illegal aliens -Rioters and looters
Several Democrats also criticized the pardon, saying it will undermine faith in rule of law as well as their own arguments about the importance of democratic traditions and institutions.
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“He promised he would not do this,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Col.) told The New York Times. “I think it will make it harder for us going forward when we talk about upholding democracy.”
CORRECTION: This article has been amended to correct Darrell Issa’s political party.