Hunter Biden (R), son of US President Joe Biden, exits the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 10, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. Jury deliberations began on Monday in Hunter Biden’s trial on federal gun charges, US media reported. Biden, 54, the son of US President Joe Biden, is accused of lying about his illegal drug use when he bought a handgun in 2018. (Photo by RYAN COLLERD / AFP) (Photo by RYAN COLLERD/AFP via Getty Images)
THE HILL | Published December 5, 2024
President Biden’s surprise pardon of his son Hunter has prompted calls for the outgoing commander-in-chief to grant clemency to other Americans before he hands over the White House to President-elect Trump next month.
Some Democrats have used the Hunter Biden pardon to call on the president to give clemency to death row inmates and nonviolent offenders. Others have suggested Biden issue preemptive pardons to those Trump considers his enemies. Meanwhile, outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) said Biden should pardon his own former 2024 rival.
Here are some possible pardons Biden could issue before he leaves the White House in January.
Death row inmates
Progressive voices on Capitol Hill are pushing for Biden to give clemency to inmates facing the death penalty.
“Don‘t stop at Hunter Biden,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) told a CNN panel Monday. “Pardon the 40 people who are on death row right now to get them off of death row, number one.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told The Independent that “it’s less about the fact that the president pardoned his son and more about the fact that he’s only really pardoning his son” when there are Americans serving life in prison and “who are on death row, who should be taken off death row.”
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.thehill.com
RELATED: Joe Biden’s pardon of son Hunter sparks debate over potential clemency for others
U.S. President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. File | Photo Credit: Reuters
THE HINDU | Published December 5, 2024
President Joe Biden’s decision to break his word and pardon his son Hunter has spurred a broader discussion about what else he should be doing with the broad clemency powers of the presidency before he leaves office in January, including whether he should even be pardoning Donald Trump.
Mr. Biden on Tuesday (December 3, 2024) ducked questions on his decision on his son, ignoring calls for him to explain his reversal as he was making his first presidential trip to Angola.
He dismissed shouted questions about the matter with a laugh during a meeting with Angolan President João Lourenço at the presidential palace, telling the Angolan delegation: “Welcome to America.” Mr. Biden was not scheduled to take questions from the press during his trip to Africa, and he has largely avoided interactions with reporters since President-elect Trump’s victory last month.
Mr. Biden’s decision to offer his son a blanket pardon for actions over the past 11 years has sparked a political uproar in Washington, after the president repeatedly had said he would not use his extraordinary powers for the benefit of his family. Mr. Biden claimed that the Justice Department had presided over a “miscarriage of justice” in prosecuting his son, using some of the same language that Mr. Trump uses to describe his own legal predicaments.
Tiden’s reversal drew criticism from many Democrats, who are working to calibrate their approach to Mr. Trump as he prepares to take over the Oval Office in seven weeks. There is concern the pardon – and Mr. Biden’s claims that his son was prosecuted for political reasons – will erode their ability to push back on the incoming president’s legal moves. And it has threatened to cloud Mr. Biden’s legacy as he prepares to leave office on Jan. 20.
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.thehindu.com
Be the first to comment