Summary

President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden, reversing his prior stance against using executive clemency.

The pardon covers Hunter’s federal gun conviction and tax evasion guilty plea, sparking political controversy.

Biden cited political attacks and a “miscarriage of justice” as reasons for his decision, emphasizing his son’s recovery from addiction and the targeting of his family.

Critics argue the move undermines the judicial process, while supporters view it as within Biden’s constitutional powers.

This decision shields Hunter from potential prison time as Biden nears the end of his presidency.

  • azimir@lemmy.ml
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    3 months ago

    The prior president pardoned a family member who was blackmailing and raping people, then appointed the same criminal to be ambassador to France. I don’t give a fuck what President Biden does now. We’re a country of criminals and oligarchs now.

      • nomous@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        “This guy keeps punching me in the face but I think punching is morally wrong so I’ll just let him break my nose.”

        • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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          3 months ago

          This is exactly what they say about you too justify what they’re doing.

          It’s amazing how quickly all the pride in our founding, American values, principles, etc are just discarded the moment one team loses an election.

          • nomous@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            This is exactly what they say about you too

            Bro they spent 5 years talking about adrenochrome and “demonrats” space lasers I’d be surprised if they could pronounce my name. I don’t need to do anything to trigger them, so why even dance around?

            • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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              3 months ago

              You cometely missed my point. You’re using the same shitty logic they are. “Both sides” are doing the same thing.

      • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Principles don’t win in America anymore. We just proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt a month ago.

          • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Nah. I just want the party that has a history of voting in favor of working class Americans and being better for our economy to do what they need to do to get elected in America. Which is lie, cheat, and steal.

              • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Probably because you haven’t read very much.

                Which part specifically though?

                The FACT that Democrats have a voting history proving they regularly vote in favor of the working class? The FACT that Democrats are historically better for our economy and the data to prove that exists? Or the brand new FACT that to win an election in the United States you have to lie, cheat, and steal?

      • Cleggory@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        It’s incredibly sad to see Democrats embrace hypocrisy with pride regarding a simple and obvious issue like this.

        Trump will have a field day pardoning Jan 6 criminals with this additional political cover from Biden.

        • plz1@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          He was going to do those J6 pardons anyways, don’t kid yourself. He didn’t need “additional cover”.

        • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works
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          3 months ago

          First part is true. It is sad and even a pretty respectable president has taken a fuck it attitude toward nepotism. Second part of your statement is silly though. Trump is shameless criminal, no amount of “cover” is needed - he was going to pardon those traitors regardless.

          If democracy ever re-emerges in some other time or place, hopefully they won’t give this power to presidents. It’s ridiculous and heavily abused throughout history.

          • Cleggory@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Trump has now won twice because of Dem incompetence and hypocrisy.

            Dems moving to the right is not irrelevant to Trump’s existence in office.

    • Cleggory@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I love when people use Trump as a litmus test for good behavior and how openly hypocrisy is displayed like a badge of honor.

  • Tedesche@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I’ve always found it absurd that presidents possess the authority to grant pardons. It trivializes our judicial system and undermines its integrity. This power should not be vested in the presidency.

    • Draces@lemmy.world
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      It’s supposed to be a check on the judicial. Are you suggesting it should be vested elsewhere or just not at all? I wouldn’t remove any checks on this court personally

  • Wrench@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    A lot of people here missing the point. We don’t care about this because Hunter was the target of a witch hunt. The actual “crimes” weren’t impactful at all. The Republicans literally spent 8 years dragging him through the mud, digging for anything that he could be charged with, just because who his dad is. And Hunter didn’t even touch politics in the slightest.

    The gun charge is the moral equivalent of crucifying someone for having pirated music on their hard drive. It was a nothing crime, never enforced, and the only reason it was in this case was because they happened to find something they could latch onto.

    I don’t know anything about the tax evasion conviction. If it was serious, then sure, fuck him. But I’d want them going after every politician AND their family with equal vigor. But guess what? They aren’t.

    That’s why most of us don’t really care. The man is not important. He holds no position of power, nor has he expressed any intent to. He is not important, except as a whipping boy for their propaganda. And a pardon for such preposterous prosecution is fine with me.

    • DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      First, did Bidden just notice that his son was a target of a “witch hunt” after the election? Or was he just lying before?

      And second, Bidden literally controlled the DOJ for 4 years. It was his call whether to go after other corrupt politicians or not.

      • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        It’s common practice for outgoing presidents to wrap up loose ends like this. Late term pardons are not a new thing.

        • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Yeah, but he’s a Democrat, so he’s held to higher standards than Republicans.

          If a Republican did this you probably wouldn’t have even heard about it.

          Do we need any better example than what just happened to know that Democrats are held to astronomically high standards, while Republicans can basically do whatever the fuck they want without repercussion?

          She had to be flawless and he got to be lawless.

          • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            And?

            You gonna leave your son in prison while a criminal president who explicitly stated he’d target his political opponents sits in the Oval Office?

            Republicans just blatantly lied their way into total power and you’re over here whining about a Democrat lying about getting his son out of prison for non-violent crimes on his way out of office?

            Your priorities are utterly fucked.

            • DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              I can simultaneously “whine” about multiple things. I guess I am talented at “whining”.

              Also, this kind of shit is part of the reason why that orange won in the first place. Democrats putting up a marginally better candidate and pretending to be saviors of the Earth.

              • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                The calories you burned typing your complaint about Biden pardoning Hunter are wasted calories. It’s so irrelevant and small compared to the avalanche of bullshit we’ve already dealt with and will be dealing with for the foreseeable future, that it’s comical to even consider. The fact that Trump made it abundantly clear he’d be targeting his political opponents is all the justification needed for Biden to pardon Hunter.

                And no, Democrats putting up a “marginally” better candidate is not how the orange dipshit won. First of all, a successful prosecutor with a doctorate in law and a significant political resume isn’t “marginally” better than a twice impeached convicted felon and rapist who instigated a violent insurrection and illegally attempted to overturn an election. I don’t know what dimension someone has to live in to think there’s only a “marginal” difference there. Secondly, the orange dipshit is president because Americans are STUPID. Because Americans don’t do their homework. Americans don’t lookup voting histories so they can see that Democrats are way better about voting in favor of the working class. They don’t look up the conviction histories to find out Democrats have WAY, WAY less convicted criminals who have served in their ranks than Republicans. Americans don’t grasp that you aren’t just voting for the person, but the party. Donald Trump is president…again…because Americans are STUPID. Not because Democrats are only “marginally” better.

                • DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
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                  3 months ago

                  The calories you burned

                  Meh, I can use fewer calories.

                  Americans are STUPID

                  Can’t argue there.

                  Americans don’t grasp that you aren’t just voting for the person, but the party.

                  You literally vote for specific people in the US, unlike in many countries where you vote for parties. That’s the whole point of your incredibly flawed representatives system. Saying people should vote Harris because of her party is like saying people should buy the terrible and useless apple vision because other apple products are good.

                  a successful prosecutor with a significant political resume

                  To most people, those sound like red flags, not advantages.

                  convicted felon and rapist who instigated a violent insurrection and illegally attempted to overturn an election

                  I mean, yeah. Americans are stupid. But then again, why should anyone believe those accusations if democrats argue lying is perfectly fine and not an issue?

          • Lightor@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            I mean, true, but does it matter? The new president spits out dozens of lies daily and he got voted in. If anything, this is what the people want, someone who lies to them.

          • WildPalmTree@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            This, I think, is what bothers me. I understand the reasoning but still… The pardoning, no surprise. The lying, makes me a bit sad. I understand the reasoning but it still makes me sad.

    • kreskin@lemmy.world
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      We don’t care about this because Hunter was the target of a witch hunt.

      He was convicted in court by a jury of his peers same as every other American under charges would see. He wasnt convicted in some political “witch hunt” process in congress, nor was he convicted by an activist judge. The congressional investigation went nowhere and was shut down. Hunters convictions carried a sentence of 15 to 21 months. If his conviction is unfair and needs to be resisted then the entire system of justice in america is unfair.

      The actual “crimes” weren’t impactful at all.

      thats not your call to make. This is just another case of hard justice being for the little people only, and you seem to be cheering that on. How low can you go, man. Biden spent a lifetime banging tables pretending to be a tough on crime guy. You seem to have forgotten all of that.

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        This never should have been before a jury.

        The prosecution had agreed to drop the gun charge as apart of a plea bargain (because it’s a crime that is only ever used as an add-on for violent crimes). But the fucking judge rejected the plea deal after Biden had admitted guilt.

        That’s bullshit and 100% should have been thrown out.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          I’m not a lawyer, but I thought the way it worked was that the prosecutor offers the plea bargain and the accused accepts but it’s still up to the judge’s discretion whether that accepted plea bargain goes through, meaning that the system was working as it always works and it wasn’t some sort of special persecution deal.

          • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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            The judge almost never throws out a plea bargain - and it’s almost unheard of for one to throw it out for not being harsh enough.

            They’re more often rejected for thing like a plea bargain where the case should be dismissed entirely or the defendant has a very good chance of winning or securing a lesser conviction at trial. Judges are supposed to err on the side of leniency.

            Rejecting a plea bargain because a charge that is almost never prosecuted is being dismissed is judicial malpractice.

            The gun crime he was convicted for is one that anyone who has ever smoked pot is guilty of if they ever touched a gun before quitting pot entirely.

            If a resident of Colorado eats a gummy legally and has a gun in the safe at home, they’ve committed the same crime.

            • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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              3 months ago

              If Conservatives cared about this law, all they would have to do is pull dispensary ID logs and probably a tenth or more of all gun applicants could be arrested. But they don’t do that because people don’t care, and they just want another law they can apply selectively.

      • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        He was convicted in court by a jury of his peers same as every other American under charges would see.

        So was Trump. But he got away with it and is now President. Hell, he didn’t even have to go through the process for most of his crimes. Just bypassed it all.

        Nothing else matters now. The rest of your comment is irrelevant. The justice system is irrelevant.

        Free Hunter!!!

    • One_Honest_Dude@lemmy.world
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      I don’t know anything about the tax evasion conviction. If it was serious, then sure, fuck him.

      If you can’t even be bothered to read an article about it why should any weight be given to your opinion. The tax fraud was 1.4 million dollars and he actively lied on his returns to avoid payment. He effectively stole over a million dollars, fuck him and all tax cheats.

      • Wrench@lemmy.world
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        Ok. What part of that conflicts with what I said?

        If he cheated on taxes, then fuck him. But I think it’s generally assumed that these fucks all cheat on their taxes. So if you’re going to go after one, then go after all of them.

        And again, he’s not actually a politician, and was only targeted because of who his dad is. If you don’t see that as abuse of authority as revenge against his dad, then there’s no point in talking to you.

        Also, if you read the fucking article yourself, it never goes into details on the tax charges.

        • One_Honest_Dude@lemmy.world
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          There is no “if,” he did cheat on his taxes for over a million dollars. Yes, go after all of them! The only reason Hunter got away for so long was because of who his dad is, so kind of karmic that it came back around for the same reason. Hunter received far more leniency for a long time for drugs, gun, and financial crimes due to his wealth and families influence and Joe Biden was instrumental in making sure poor people who do the same thing get punished harshly. Until it was HIS son, then all the excuses came out.

          Also, if you read the fucking article yourself, it never goes into details on the tax charges.

          This article does not, but none of this is new. We have known about these crimes for years. You displayed absolutely zero curiosity about what crimes he did in your haste to whitewash Biden’s hypocrisy. We will not get better politicians or leaders until we demand it.

          I do not care that Hunter was not a politician, though that never prevented him from getting paid off his family name and only avoided punishment for so long because of who his father is. I do not care why the charges come about, these rich fucks need to pay. Maybe if the Democrats were willing to see that the rich and powerful actually face consequences Trump and all these right wing grifters might have been dealt with before they came to power. But back when Trump and Kushner were donating to Democratic campaigns none of them managed to give a shit. We should strive for a higher standard of morality than Donald fucking Trump.

    • index@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      And Hunter didn’t even touch politics in the slightest.

      From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden :

      "Biden was a founding board member of BHR Partners, a Chinese investment company, in 2013, and later served on the board of Burisma Holdings, one of the largest private natural gas producers in Ukraine, from 2014 until his term expired in April 2019. He has worked as a lobbyist and legal representative for lobbying firms, a hedge fund principal, and a venture capital and private equity fund investor. "

      “Biden was hired to help Burisma with requesting assistance from the U.S government to expand its business and corporate governance best practices,”

  • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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    Lol.

    Most of these comments are a great example of how stupid Americans are.

    All my life Dems have been held to a higher standard. I’ve watched them take the high road so many times while the Republicans went low. Continued to honor decorum when Republicans refused.

    And guess what happened?

    Americans told them to go fuck themselves and voted for blatant Republican corruption instead.

    And now there’s a bunch of comments in here whining about how Democrats are corrupt for doing this.

    Go fuck yourselves. Clowns.

    • Cleggory@lemmy.world
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      Hypocrisy is not a virtue and two wrongs don’t make a right.

      Hope this helps!

      • btaf45@lemmy.world
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        Hope this helps!

        It doesn’t. The voters proved that “high road” bullshit is pointless. Therefore they will get what they deserve.

      • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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        Hypocrisy is not a virtue and two wrongs don’t make a right.

        In 2024 America it is and they do.

        • thoro@lemmy.ml
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          3 months ago

          Yeah this a real win for the working class and “progressive” politics.

          • btaf45@lemmy.world
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            Yeah this a real win for the working class and “progressive” politics.

            The working class didn’t vote to win. They voted to lose.

            • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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              The working class didn’t vote to win. They voted to lose.

              Yup.

              A few weeks before the election Trump and Musk sat down and had a televised discussion in which they they talked about how they hated unions and didn’t respect worker rights.

              Then working class Americans voted them into power.

              We voted against ourselves in the most blatant election ever. We are not a smart society. We deserve to lose.

            • thoro@lemmy.ml
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              What does that possibly have to do with Biden choosing to abuse his clemency powers to spare his failson from the consequences of his actions?

              This isn’t an act of progressive or socialist will. This is just another example of a two tiered justice system in this country but also fuel for the fascists. I don’t see a reason to celebrate this unless you’re a Biden.

      • newDayRocks@lemmy.world
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        And holding one side to a standard while letting the other side do whatever they want is also hypocrisy

  • hark@lemmy.world
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    Reading through these comments and seeing people excuse this because trump is worse validates the race-to-the-bottom strategy that republicans and democrats cooperate on. Republicans will keep lowering the bar while democrats will continue hovering slightly above that bar as their only differentiator and we’re all on the ride on the way down.

    • rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works
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      Gun charge “while using illegal drugs”.

      Tax fraud.

      c’mon now, fuck all that shit. 100% political, “witch hunt”, and all that. I would have thought less of Joe had he not done this.

    • njm1314@lemmy.world
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      You do have to remember that most of us didn’t give a fuck about this supposed crime to begin with. I mean who Among Us hasn’t lied to the government about our drug history?

      Also should mention that it’s clearly unconstitutional by the way.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        who Among Us hasn’t lied to the government about our drug history?

        Me. I’ve yet to be given the opportunity… but I’ll be happy to lie about if it comes up.

      • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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        Also should mention that it’s clearly unconstitutional by the way.

        Then they should fight it legally and win. That would also set precedent for others who aren’t rich and powerful.

        It would also be amusing to watch liberals making a 2A argument in court.

    • clutchtwopointzero@lemmy.world
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      Is not a race to bottom. It is just the most clear indication that the American system of governance has massive flaws and, as a set of institutions, the system has no way to protect itself from abuse.

    • asteriskeverything@lemmy.world
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      Um no?

      Don’t tell me if you knew the threat to democracy who had a personal vendetta against you and your child was following you in office and has threatened and made blind accusations multiple times that you would NOT pardon them. Biden did the right thing as a parent and a mildly objectionable thing on a moral standpoint politically which… just fuck off with that. I don’t wanna hear about morality from the party that constantly defends rapist and child abusers

      • hark@lemmy.world
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        I don’t want to hear about morality regarding biden and his full-throated support of genocide. He said he wouldn’t pardon his son and that he believed in the rule of law, but when it comes down to it, he goes ahead and pardons him because he ultimately knows the institutions he has fought so hard to defend are full of shit. Us peasants are still supposed to be held under the power of these institutions, though, and he has done nothing to change that. In fact, he’s played a big hand in making it as bad as it is now with his tough on crime stance.

    • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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      Reading through these comments and seeing people excuse this because trump is worse validates the race-to-the-bottom strategy that republicans and democrats cooperate on.

      No, you don’t seem to understand. The race to the bottom strategy was a Republican thing. But now that we know that’s how you win in America, some of us are supporting that strategy for Democrats as well.

      Gotta adapt to your environment to succeed.

      • hark@lemmy.world
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        I’m on board with that, but democrats refuse to take advantage of their power for our sake. He’s just doing this for his own sake. This selfishness is what allowed trump a second term, since democrats would’ve had a much better chance if biden stepped down earlier and allowed for a proper primary.

        • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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          but democrats refuse to take advantage of their power for our sake.

          I agree that they could do more. But I also acknowledge that they’ve done WAY more for us than the Republican party has. I don’t vote for perfect. I vote for better.

          He’s just doing this for his own sake.

          I’m ok with him pardoning his son. First of all, Trump threatened to go after his political opponents if he won. That’s a threat to Biden’s son. So Biden did something about it. Secondly, Biden was, by all metrics, a solid president. And Americans told him and his party to fuck off and re-hired a twice impeached convicted felon and rapist who incited an insurrection and illegally attempted to overturn an election. We treated Biden like shit. He doesn’t owe us anything additional. I think it’s fine to take this small victory to protect his son from unwarranted threats and then retire.

          since democrats would’ve had a much better chance if biden stepped down earlier

          I agree. But I also have a pretty low opinion of Americans, so I don’t know if it would have mattered in the end.

    • Doorbook@lemmy.world
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      It is wild how they willing to defend their side no matter what. This is absolute abuse of power regardless of detail. Again, it is understandable and expected, but still abuse of power.

    • Fuckfuckmyfuckingass@lemmy.world
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      It would be cool if he went out in a blaze of glory that wasn’t self serving. Like legalizing weed, arming Ukraine, and just generally trying to fuck shit up for Trump before he gets in.

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      I don’t think it’s so much YOLO as recognizing that Hunter would be a target of Trump once he assumes office.

      It seems to me to be a form of self defense. People do things that they otherwise wouldn’t do when the alternative is bad enough.

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    It’s not a great look…but let’s be frank. Biden was pushed out of a race he wanted, during a presidency that wasn’t all that bad considering what came before. The Dems that wanted him out are now all either infighting, or saying everything is fine and they’ll definitely win in four years. Biden’s in the last weeks of his job, and when he’s lost so much already he probably just wants to ensure his family are safe.

    After decades of public service, and being committed to handing power over to someone that’s demonized what’s left of his family, I’m all for Biden using his last week or two to protect his family and enjoy retirement.

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      I’m very torn about it. I don’t think he would have done it if Kamala won. I can totally see Trump trying to get Hunter beheaded, so in that way I’m fine with what Biden did.

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          He had guardrails last time. I want to go to sleep come January 20th at this point and not wake up.

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      I support it. This as miscarriage as a miscarriage of justice gets. A politically motivated investigation turns unfiled taxes and a gun law that could imprison half the country (smoke a joint after going to a range and you’re guilty too) into a politically rejected plea deal and 25 years in prison?

      That’s a fucking nightmare not justice. He should be on an IRS payment plan and monitoring for drugs. That’s the normal outcome.

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      I am more shocked by people supporting Biden’s action than the action itself

      I am more shocked by you not fully realizing a year ago that this was exactly what was going to happen than anything Biden did. Hunter Biden was prosecuted for something that likely nobody else would have been.

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      I support it.

      Americans explicitly voted for blatant corruption.

      Now they’re going to get it.

      We’re just getting what we voted for.

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      I honestly don’t give a flying fuck if he pardibs his son or not. It’s not like Trump was going to pardon him along with the J6 people.

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        Using Trump as a litmus test for good behavior proves you are a simple hypocrite.

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    I’m not happy about this. Not one bit. Just like how I wouldn’t have been happy to hear about Trump pardoning one of his own kids for breaking the law. As a matter of fact, I’m furious reading some of the comments in this thread.

    It shocks me to see people defending this. We fought against the Republicans to prevent misuse of executive powers exactly like this. How the fuck can you sit there and rationalize this while saying it’s wrong for Trump to pardon the Jan 6th insurrectionists? or himself for that matter?

    This is a black stain on Biden’s presidential legacy. It’s shit like this that puts wind in the sails of all the crazy Republican conspiracy theorists out there. Now, every single motherfucker who ranted and raved about the “Biden Crime Family” since 2020 was just proven right, just like how all the people who said that Trump’s convictions were politically motivated were proven right when Jack Smith dropped the charges. It makes us look like fucking morons and hypocrites.

    No, before anyone says it, it is not smart to stoop to their level when basically the only messaging we sent out during the entire 2024 campaign was that we were the morally superior choice. That someone who doesn’t respect the rule of law has no business being president. Now, we don’t even have that to lean on.

    • theparadox@lemmy.world
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      No, before anyone says it, it is not smart to stoop to their level

      While it’s a bit disappointing, I understand that one perspective is that it is a defensive move. I don’t think it is unreasonable to assume that Trump is going to abuse his power and weaponize the Justice Dept to extract everything he can, politically, from the resulting show.

      I don’t know whether or not Biden would have done the exact same thing if it was a more reasonable Republican administration coming in. That would be far more telling. It might have been that Biden was making a show of it with the assumption that he’d be overseeing and influencing it all as president and if that weren’t the case he’d be abusing his authority to spare his son.

      Yes, it’s frustrating because of the message it send but frankly, I don’t think it’ll cause much trouble. Everyone who’d see it as an admission of the guilt of the “Biden crime family” wasn’t going to change their mind, even if Hunter was publicly drawn and quartered by the Biden administration. Those folks would immediately move the goal post - “Yeah, whatever, but what about…” or just insist Hunter’s death was fake and it was all sham.

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      Republicans in Congress are never going to want to limit excessive executive power if it’s only ever used in service of things they like.

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      It shocks me to see people defending this.

      On principle I agree with you but the US public voted in a wannabe dictator convict who is blatantly corrupt on every level at every opportunity. I also tend to think Republicans went to great lengths to attack Hunter since they couldn’t successfully attack Biden himself - and I could totally see Trump going after Hunter as an example and to target some figure in a powerplay. That harpie Congresswoman from Georgia literally showed nudes of Hunter on the floor of Congress for no reason, continuing the trend of the GOP having no “soul” or morals. Republicans have successfully ripped apart the country after Biden’s admin did its best to fix all the bs the GOP did 4 years ago. Fuck it, I just don’t care - Let Biden have this.

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      The pardon power was exactly for this. The entire investigation was a political witch hunt. It’s meant to prevent exactly this kind of mistreatment in the justice system. Just because the person happens to be the president’s son changes nothing except that people will fall into GOP propaganda they’ve been setting up for years, while they push this investigation.

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      It might come as a shock, but the president actually tends to pardon a lot of people at the end of their presidency, including people they don’t know

      The Republicans literally spent their entire time wasting money on an ethics committee for Hunter Biden because they couldn’t find anything on biden

      Id argue that when the government is spending millions to investigate a guy who isn’t even part of the government, it’s a political prosecution

      He never even worked for the government

      Unlike the trump family who are all being given positions of power and are openly abusing them

      Irrespective, because of the Republican bs, Hunter is going to never be able to just do his time and live his life

      Don’t forget that trump is also putting his own people in charge of positions of law too and he isn’t signing any ethics documents or selecting them ethically.

      Even with a pardon, trump is a spiteful shit and i guarantee he’ll be attacking all of his political enemies

      • tb_@lemmy.world
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        Id argue that when the government is spending millions to investigate a guy who isn’t even part of the government, it’s a political prosecution

        I may not like it, but also kinda fair.

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        I don’t really care. The law is the law. The investigations were quite clearly politically motivated, trying to get to Joe by going after Hunter, but the trial was nothing but fair and the judiciary did not make a mistake in the trial or the sentencing. You cannot claim to be a supporter of the rule of law only when it’s convenient for you. This pardon undermines just about every bit of credibility the Democratic party had left. It’s not Biden breaking the rules or using his power for the good of the nation or the people, it’s a selfish abuse for the sake of keeping his son from being held accountable for the things he actually did.

        I would not be surprised if Joe Biden supported some of the very same legislation that would have put his son behind bars back when he was still a senator. Dude was well known for being a “tough on crime” type of politician.

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          The judge straight up rejected the plea deal Hunter and the prosecutor agreed to. They absolutely bowed to political pressure.

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          You’ve got the Republicans who stole his laptop and illegally distributing his dick pics publicly, during the congressional hearings it’s ducking ridiculous. It’s basically revenge porn

          I think you forgot about all the shit the Republicans did here.

          If they did half the stuff they did as civilians, they’d be facing criminal charges in most countries. It’s actually far worse than you remember. And you’ve been talking shit about Biden for months looking at your History

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            And you’ve been talking shit about Biden for months looking at your History

            Biden hasn’t been relevant since like July. How far back in my comment history did you have to read to find a single post where I’m critical of Biden?

            You sure seem to have a lot of free time on your hands.

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              You’re literally talking shit about 5 posts ago / 3 weeks ago

              So on the first page of your comments

              Ie, didn’t really browse at all, but I expected it, which is why I looked

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                Quote the post, then. I suspect you have a reading comprehension problem if you think any of my posts that are even tangentially related to Biden in the last three weeks have been negative.

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          Have you ever smoked a joint? Have you been to a gun range? If so, you committed practically the same felony hunter did.

          Literally fuck off. This whole thing was an obvious political ploy and you justifying it and defending it is pathetic. Rules exist to benefit society, when those same rules are used to damage society, must we still obey them? Your whole point is a joke.

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            Not practically, literally. They prosecuted a guy for marijuana under this law, and the only reason they couldn’t get him is they didn’t get evidence of “continued drug use”. That’s why that was so important in Hunter’s trial.

          • Furbag@lemmy.world
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            Have you ever smoked a joint? Have you been to a gun range? If so, you committed practically the same felony hunter did.

            I’ve never done either of these things, but if I did, I sure wouldn’t lie about not having ever done it on a government form.

            To be clear, I do not think that the law is fair or just, nor do I think that it’s application to Hunter in such a high profile case was warranted, but two wrongs don’t make a right. Republicans applying political pressure to Hunter Biden does not give Joe Biden carte blanche to be a hypocrite without some strong condemnations from people like myself.

            The one thing I’ve learned from this thread is that nobody believes in objective justice. Trump supporters will say Trump’s felony convictions were politically motivated, Biden’s supporters will say Hunter’s felony convictions were politically motivated, and everybody is perfectly happy to discount witness testimony or a jury’s verdict so long as it suits their own subjective sense of justice, that as long as “their team” is winning, it’s right and just and fair.

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      We fought against the Republicans to prevent misuse of executive powers exactly like this.

      And we lost.

      Americans want corruption. We voted explicitly for it.

      No point in taking the high road or honoring decorum anymore. It doesn’t work to win elections in America.

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        I don’t want to live in an America where the government is run by people who are in a race to the bottom. I won’t be complicit in the corruption. It’s time to call a stone a stone.

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          I don’t want to live in an America where the government is run by people who are in a race to the bottom.

          You already do.

          I won’t be complicit in the corruption.

          Have fun changing it. The majority of Americans just disagreed with you and voted for blatant corruption.

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      It shocks me to see people defending this.

      It shocks me that you did not 100% realize a year ago that this was exactly what was going to happen. It was a bullshit witch hunt charge that was only prosecuted because Hunter Biden was a high profile person.

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      So if you knew your son was about to be thrown in prison by your political opponents, you would do nothing? Then feel good about yourself?

      Are you an asshole or a liar? Or both?

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      when basically the only messaging we sent out during the entire 2024 campaign was that we were the morally superior choice. That someone who doesn’t respect the rule of law has no business being president.

      And how exactly did that work out? I don’t think moral superiority is at all a helpful thing in politics.

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        Moral superiority is an important cultural and ideological component, it’s something to strive for. But if your political opponents keep bending rules to their favor, being civil seems like a complete waste of time. I agree with the other comments pointing out that this isn’t a win for voters at all.

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          It isn’t a win. But it isn’t a loss either. It just doesn’t matter.

          Maybe it’s a step towards losing that holier than thou attitude and actually getting things done.

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      I get where you’re coming from, but the political opposition in America to democrats is now literally Nazis and white supremacists. Bidens action isn’t a win for voters in any sense, that’s the only objectionable part tbh.

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    On the one hand this is pretty hypocritical. On the other hand I probably would do the same in his position given that trump plans to weaponize the Justice department. Not great but this is the state our country is in now.

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      On the one hand this is pretty hypocritical. On the other hand I probably would do the same in his position given that trump plans to weaponize the Justice department.

      Seriously. Here’s the scenario I put myself in:

      • I’m 82 years old
      • Three close family members, including my first wife and two of my children, have died.
      • I’m being succeeded by someone who has promised to leverage government agencies to attack his political enemies
      • My son has symbolically become one of those enemies
      • I have choices:

       

      • I can wait to see whether my successor does some third world shit to him while he’s in prison and be powerless to stop it if he does

      OR

      • I can use my current powers to free him, saving him from that fate, and getting more time with my remaining son during my final few years of life.

      Fuck I know what choice I’m making.

      I understand every single argument about why he shouldn’t have done it. I agree with some of them. Still no problem for me to put myself in a state of mind where I do the exact same thing.

      Go ahead and come at me if you want, folks. I understand, but I won’t be changing my mind. If I’m 82 years old, my son stands a good chance of being abused while in a jail cell after I retire, and I can both avoid that plus also get an extra year+ with my son before I die, with nothing more required than expressing my wish for him to be released, I’m doing it.

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          Fair enough. 🙂

          I’m like a notch below you on that. I won’t condemn him, but I acknowledge there are valid reasons he should not have done it.

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      I do love it. It’s about time a Democrat fucking did something without constant worry about what Fox News might say about it. You think we were going to win over these supposed “centrists” anyway?

      He’s not appointing him to a cabinet position. He’s not making him the Ambassador to France. And the only reason he was having the entire book thrown at him for crimes he did, absolutely commit was, in fact, political.

      Fuck former Senator Bob Menendez. That was real corruption. Fuck Blagojevich, he should rot in prison (except that Trump pardoned him). But Hunter’s crimes were pretty minor.

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        I’d prefer that he’d act in the interest of the American people overall in his cutting and running. The last month has had many examples of last minute “good luck with the fallout, Donny” moves, but this is exclusively self interest. I don’t love it, but I get it. Hope he enjoys whichever country he and his son will flee to as we mad max it

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    That pardon smells fishy, but I can understand that he does not want to leave his son exposed to imprisonment under Trump. Donald has shown time and again that he has no problems in going after weak persons to extract petty revenge.

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      I knew all along that Biden was going to pardon his son after the election. It doesn’t surprise or bother me. The firearms charge he was charged with was something that likely wouldn’t have been prosecuted if he was a regular person. I thought the tax evasion charge was much more serious but he wasn’t charged on that.

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        He was charged on the tax evasion charges. He plead guilty in September and was due to be sentenced on Dec 16th.

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      That’s funny because people say, despite the threats, he didn’t actually imprison anyone. Hillary comes to mind but I wasn’t paying attention enough to know who else he said should he locked up.

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        Because there were no actual prosecutable actions to convict anyone for, the republicans were just assembling one “special investigation” after another in an effort to waste everyone’s time. Come to think of it, most of the things conservatives scream about are akin to a child’s tantrum that you just try to mitigate until they’re quiet enough to sit down and get some work done…except we keep feeding them sugar and cartoons instead of putting their childish plantation asses to bed.

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          Good point so there were prosecutable actions to convict in Hunter’s case and he was pardoned by family. I guess that’s reasonable.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      The pardon train is just getting moving. They’ve likely had a team taking applications and looking for cases for at least a few weeks now. December and January are generally when that bears fruit.

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            I mean, I don’t give a fuck about somebody smoking crack and buying a gun, but Hunter Biden is in no way a political prisoner or a dissident. If anything he belongs in prison for his corruption along with probably every other high ranking politician and their children.

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              Oh, I forgot everyone is corrupt, so any charges are automatically justified. Yeah that’s not something a dictator would say at all…

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                Crackhead with a plum job on the board of a foreign energy company? Nothing to see here!

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                  Don’t go to Wall Street then. That’s not evidence of anything but being connected to wealthy people.

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    Good. I hope the democrats play just as dirty and hard as the republicans going forward. We cannot be civil with barbarians.

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      I would also like them to do that too, but I would prefer they do it for something other than nepotism.

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        The left needs a populist movement like Bernie Sanders has been saying, the movements the left has seen prior to this point have tapered out because they didn’t get money backed support, and because they didn’t capture the hearts and mind of the comfortable democrat voter.

        It’s had been an uphill battle till now, but maybe things will be different going forward because the republicans are going to peel back a lot of hard won rights and freedoms, and also degrade quality of life and standards of living with their health, economic and education policies.

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          …I don’t disagree, but I’m struggling to see how this is related to my comment. Are you replying to the right person?