Politics
Column: President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter is understandable. It's also unforgivable
It came as a surprise that President Biden unconditionally pardoned his son Hunter, a convicted felon, after repeatedly vowing that he would not. For the past few months, each time Biden or his press secretary was asked whether a pardon was in the cards, they both emphatically said no.
So much for one of the president’s favorite lines, “I give you my word as a Biden.”
Hunter, who was facing a potential sentence of years in prison for tax evasion and lying on a federal firearms application, is now free to pursue his career as a middling painter of overpriced art.
I admit that when I first heard the pardon news, I thought, “Good for you, Joe! Why should you follow the rules when no one on Planet Trump does? Let the people who voted to return a sex-offending, defaming, defrauding felon to the White House get a tiny taste of their own medicine.”
On second thought, however, it’s more complicated than that.
How can any of us be outraged at the way Trump and those in his circle seem immune from the consequences of their malign actions if we applaud Biden’s pardon of his son for crimes he has either been convicted of or pleaded guilty to?
How can we be outraged that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner received $2 billion from the murderous Saudis if we think it’s perfectly fine for Hunter Biden to be paid millions of dollars for sitting on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that was under investigation for corruption while his father was vice president and overseeing White House policy on Ukraine?
The real outrage is the general lack of accountability for the illegal, unethical or immoral behavior of children born into wealth and privilege whose only “talents” are their ability to exploit their proximity to powerful people. Nepo babies gonna nepo baby.
Hunter Biden was charged with lying on a gun purchase form, having claimed on penalty of perjury that he was not using drugs when, as he recounts in his memoir, he was a raging coke and meth addict. He was also charged with evading more than $1 million in taxes, which he has since paid, along with penalties and interest.
Was he unfairly singled out? Maybe, but he still broke the law.
As President Biden stated in announcing the pardon, “Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form. Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions.”
All true, which is why the government originally offered Hunter a deal that would have allowed him to avoid prison. He was to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his 2017 and 2018 taxes on time, and to agree to a diversion program that would allow him to avoid prosecution on the charge that he lied when he bought a handgun in 2018.
But a federal judge put the plea deal on hold last year, saying she did not want to “rubber stamp” an unorthodox and complex agreement that was reached without her input. Republicans piled on, filing an amicus brief complaining that the deal was too lenient and that the investigation was tainted by political interference from the Biden administration.
At that point, with the plea deal in tatters, Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to the case. A month later, in September 2023, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy opened his sham impeachment investigation of the president, claiming Biden lied about his knowledge of his son’s business affairs.
The House’s eventual report basically found that Hunter used his daddy’s name to enrich himself. Yawn.
Last summer, after a salacious trial that, as the New York Times put it, “made painfully public Mr. Biden’s crack addiction, reckless behavior and ruinous spending,” a federal jury found Hunter guilty of three felony counts related to the gun application. In September, Hunter Biden avoided tormenting his family with another trial by pleading guilty to nine federal tax charges.
“There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution,” President Biden’s statement said. “In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”
Hunter may have been singled out for prosecution, but Hunter did in fact screw up. And President Biden, who has often said that Americans in the Trump era are engaged in a “battle to save the soul of the nation,” has shown that he, too, will warp justice for his own ends. I thought he was better than that.
Bluesky: @rabcarian.bsky.social. Threads: @rabcarian
House Republican leaders have endorsed Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis for election in the Sunshine State’s 1st Congressional District.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., are all backing the candidate.
Patronis shared the endorsements on social media, thanking each of the House GOP figures.
WITH TRUMP PLEDGING ENDORSEMENT, FLORIDA CFO WILL RUN FOR MATT GAETZ’S FORMER HOUSE SEAT
U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (C), accompanied by U.S. House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer (L), and U.S. House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Nov. 19, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Last month, President-elect Donald Trump urged Patronis to run, pledging to endorse him.
“Should he decide to enter this Race, Jimmy Patronis has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JIMMY, RUN!” Trump declared in a Truth Social post
Special primary and general elections will be held next year to fill the seat vacated last month by Matt Gaetz, who resigned from Congress after Trump nominated him to serve as attorney general.
FLORIDA CFO REQUESTS REPORT ON POTENTIAL FOR INVESTING SOME STATE RETIREMENT SYSTEM FUNDS INTO DIGITAL ASSETS
Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis delivers remarks before Gov. Ron DeSantis took to the stage. (Tiffany Tompkins/Bradenton Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Gaetz, who had just been re-elected prior to leaving office, ultimately withdrew himself from consideration for the Cabinet-level post.
But Gaetz is not the only Trump nominee who has bowed out.
FLORIDA SHERIFF CHAD CHRONISTER WITHDRAWS AS TRUMP’S NOMINEE TO LEAD DEA
President-elect Donald Trump looks on during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 16, 2024, in New York City (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, who Trump recently nominated to serve as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, withdrew himself from consideration for the job.
Before Democrats lose the White House and the Senate, they should push through legislation to repeal the Comstock Act, which could be used to prevent legal medically induced abortions everywhere in the United States. Given the success of ballot initiatives that protect the right to abortion in even conservative states in last week’s election, the politics could be right to repeal that 1873 law.
The Comstock Act was adopted to prohibit the interstate shipment of obscene materials. The law also outlawed the shipment of anything meant to prevent conception or end pregnancy.
The law, as it now stands, prohibits the shipment through the mail of “every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion.” It also forbids any “express company or other common carrier” from providing for “carriage” of such items “in interstate or foreign commerce.” The act provides for a sentence of up to five years for the first offense and 10 years plus a fine for the second.
In 2023, 63% of all abortions in states without total bans were medically induced rather than surgical. Conservatives want the federal government to invoke the Comstock Act to prohibit any shipment of mifepristone and misoprostol, the drugs used for medically induced abortions, by mail or other service, in effect ending them in the United States. This would apply even in states with strong abortion protections, such as California.
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a road map for Donald Trump’s second term as president, explicitly states that “following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, there is now no federal prohibition on the enforcement of this statute. The Department of Justice in the next conservative Administration should therefore announce its intent to enforce federal law against providers and distributors of such pills.” In June, the right-wing National Review wrote “a new administration is free to enforce the Comstock Act.”
Enforcing it does not require passing any new laws. Late in the campaign, Trump said he’s not for new legislation requiring a nationwide abortion ban. But Jonathan Mitchell, who represented Trump in the Supreme Court, stated: “We don’t need a federal ban when we have Comstock on the books.” Just a handful of criminal prosecutions threatening doctors with five-year prison sentences for mailing abortion medicines could intimidate most doctors and other providers from doing so.
Even though the Biden administration refused to enforce the Comstock Act, over the last year, a number of commentators have called for it to be repealed. In June, Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced the Stop Comstock Act with co-sponsorship from numerous Democratic Senate and House members. The bill was endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Smith stated at the time: “When MAGA Republicans say they intend to use the Comstock Act to control women’s decisions and enact a backdoor national abortion ban, we should believe them. Now that Trump has overturned Roe, a future Republican administration could try to misapply this 150-year-old Comstock law to deny American women their rights, even in states where abortion rights are protected by state law.”
Congress did not take up the bill. It is imperative that lawmakers do so in the upcoming lame-duck session.
Would they succeed? Before the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2025, Democrats in effect hold a 51-49 Senate majority and a four-seat House minority; they wouldn’t need to persuade many Republicans in order to achieve this repeal. Until Jan. 20, Biden is the president who would sign the Stop Comstock Act.
Abortion is the one issue that Democrats won in this election. Voters in seven states — including conservative ones such as Missouri and Montana — passed laws protecting abortion rights. Even in Florida, which Trump won decisively, 57% of the voters supported an initiative safeguarding abortion rights, though this was less than the 60% needed in that state for it to pass.
Polls show that almost two-thirds of voters support broad abortion rights. In the House, a few Republicans might fall in line with voters’ wishes and back repeal. In the worst case, even if the effort to repeal the Comstock Act failed, it would be politically beneficial for Democrats to have Republicans on record voting to keep this archaic law.
In the weeks ahead, Democrats need to think about what they can do before they lose the White House and the Senate. Repealing the Comstock Act should be a top priority.
Erwin Chemerinsky, a contributing writer to Opinion and dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, is the author of “No Democracy Lasts Forever: How the Constitution Threatens the United States.” Miles Mogulescu is an attorney and Oscar-nominated filmmaker.
A Democratic former state lawmaker defeated the Republican incumbent on Tuesday to flip a seat in California’s Central Valley that was the last 2024 House race to be called, according to The Associated Press.
Despite the victory by the challenger, Adam Gray, over the incumbent, U.S. Representative John Duarte, the Republicans will retain narrow control over the House when the next Congress convenes. Republicans will have 220 seats versus 215 for the Democrats.
Mr. Duarte, who trailed by 187 votes in a contest in which more than 210,000 ballots were cast, conceded shortly before The A.P.’s call, said Duane Dichiara, a campaign spokesman.
Mr. Gray had declared victory earlier on Tuesday, two days before counties in California were required to certify their results.
“The final results confirm this district is ready for independent and accountable leadership that always puts the Valley’s people ahead of partisan politics,” Mr. Gray said in a statement on X.
The victory by Mr. Gray, a former member of the California State Assembly, was a reversal of the 2022 results in the 13th Congressional District. Two years ago, Mr. Duarte won by the second-smallest margin in any House race.
Though the G.O.P. has won more than the 218 seats necessary to control the House, President-elect Trump wants two of the Republican House members to serve in his administration. A third, Matt Gaetz, resigned last month after Mr. Trump announced that he intended to nominate him for attorney general. (Mr. Gaetz later withdrew from consideration after considerable opposition surfaced to his potential nomination.)
The race call came just short of a month after Election Day. California notably takes longer to tabulate votes because elections officials are flooded with mail-in ballots that must be inspected and verified. The state gives county offices weeks to complete their tallies and reach out to voters whose ballots may lack a proper signature.
In the initial election night count, Mr. Duarte led by more than 3,000 votes. But Mr. Gray steadily chipped away at that lead in subsequent updates until he went ahead for the first time on Tuesday.
Both Mr. Duarte, an agricultural businessman, and Mr. Gray, who touts his early years working at his family’s dairy supply store, campaigned on their advocacy for the region’s farmers and their ability to be a bipartisan voice in Washington.
They also both called for investing in water infrastructure in the Central Valley and pledged to ensure that the region’s growers have access to water as the state plans for future droughts.
While Mr. Gray has emphasized endorsements from local law enforcement officials, Mr. Duarte told a local television station that he was a “pro-choice Republican” who supports women’s rights.
Democrats had eyed the seat as among the most promising potential pickups, and they helped Mr. Gray rake in millions of dollars to unseat Mr. Duarte. About 41 percent of voters in the district are registered Democrats and 29 percent are Republicans.
Mr. Gray had raised $5.4 million and Mr. Duarte $4.1 million, according to campaign finance filings through Oct. 16. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also spent $1.7 million on the race, records showed.
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Video: How Pardoning Hunter Complicates Biden’s Legacy
Democratic challenger Adam Gray flips California's 13th Congressional District in nation's final House race
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