‘Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?’ Trump wrote on social media
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When news broke Sunday night that U.S. President Joe Biden had signed a presidential pardon for his son Hunter, president-elect Donald Trump was quick to react.
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“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” he wrote on the social media platform Truth Social shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday. “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
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Who are the ‘J-6 hostages’?
Trump was referring to people convicted for their part in the U.S. Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021, when they tried to halt the count of electoral votes that would formalize Biden’s win in the 2020 election.
According to the Associated Press, by last month more than 1,500 people had been charged since the riots. Trump has called the rioters “unbelievable patriots,” the AP reports, and promised to help them “the first day we get into office.”
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Trump has also previously referred to those convicted in connection with the riots as “hostages,” despite pushback from justice officials who have pointed out that the convictions came about through normal legal means.
Last summer he was asked during an appearance with the National Association of Black Journalists if he would pardon the Jan. 6 rioters, and he replied: “If they’re innocent, I would pardon them,” adding that he thought they had been convicted “by a very tough system.”
And last month, two federal judges agreed to delay key deadlines in criminal trials for four defendants accused of breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, since Trump’s inauguration could make the proceedings moot.
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In October, Trump also suggested that he might pardon Hunter Biden. Asked by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt during an interview, he replied: “I wouldn’t take it off the books.”
He added that, “despite what they’ve done to me, where they’ve gone after me so viciously,” that he might consider a pardon. “I happen to think it’s very bad for our country,” he said of the conviction, adding that “I could have gotten Hillary Clinton very easily.”
Joe Biden on pardoning son Hunter: ‘Enough is enough’
Joe Biden has previously said he would not pardon Hunter, who was convicted last summer on charges of unlawfully possessing a gun as a drug user, lying on a federal form when he bought the gun, and making a false statement about information required to be collected by a federally licensed gun dealer. He was scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 12 and could have faced up to 25 years in prison.
But in a 350-word statement released Sunday evening, Biden said that he ultimately decided: “Enough is enough.”
“I believe in the justice system,” he said in the statement, “but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”
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He added: “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong … 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.”
He concluded: “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”
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In his own statement, reported in the Washington Post, Hunter Biden said he will never take the pardon for granted, and vowed to devote the life he has rebuilt “to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”
“I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction — mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” he added.
Elon Musk trolls Biden with ‘community note’ on X
Elon Musk used the “community notes” function on X to change Biden’s May 31 post reading: “No one is above the law.”
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Biden wrote the post after a New York jury convicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of a so-called hush money scheme to silence an adult film star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
The post now includes the note: “Joe Biden granted a full and unconditional pardon to his son, Hunter, on December 1, 2024. Hunter was convicted of multiple felonies but will now go unpunished.”
Musk then shared the post with a screenshot adding: “Community Notes slays.”
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‘Biden just made clear his son Hunter is above the law’: Trump critic Joe Walsh
Commentators from both sides of the political spectrum have questioned Biden’s decision and where it might lead.
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“While as a father I certainly understand (Biden’s) natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country,” Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, wrote on X. “This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation.”
He added: “No one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.”
Also from Colorado, Democratic congressman Jason Crow posted to X: “The Hunter Biden pardon was a mistake. I sympathize with a father’s love, especially in a family that has experienced so much personal tragedy. I also understand the legal arguments in favor of a pardon. But Presidential pardons are never judged solely on the merits of the case, particularly when it involves a family member.”
And Michigan Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wrote on social media: “President Biden’s decision to pardon his son was wrong. A president’s family and allies shouldn’t get special treatment. This was an improper use of power, it erodes trust in our government, and it emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests.”
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Meanwhile, Joe Walsh, a Republican and vocal critic of Trump, echoed that notion in statements made on MSNBC. “This pardon is just deflating for those of us who’ve been out there for a few years yelling about what a threat Trump is,” he said. “‘Nobody’s above the law,’ we’ve been screaming. Well, Joe Biden just made clear his son Hunter is above the law.”
Watch: Jill Biden voices support for son Hunter’s pardon
First Lady Jill Biden was at a White House Christmas event on Monday when she made a brief comment of support for her son Hunter.
The event was with children of National Guard families. Video captured a question from a reporter off-screen, asking: “Dr. Biden, do you support the pardon of Hunter?”
Biden at first seems to ignore the query and several others before stepping to a microphone to reply: “Of course I support the pardon of my son.”
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Special counsel responds to attempts to dismiss cases
In a new court filing, federal prosecutors are resisting Hunter Biden’s attempt to completely dismiss the cases for which he has been pardoned by his father.
Special counsel David Weiss wrote: “As a matter of past-practice in this district, courts do not dismiss indictments when pardons are granted.… Instead, it has been the practice of this court that once an Executive Grant of Clemency has been filed on the docket, the docket is marked closed, the disposition entry is updated to reflect the executive grant of clemency, and no further action is taken by the Court.”
Weiss added: “If media reports are accurate, the Government does not challenge that the defendant has been the recipient of an act of mercy. But that does not mean the grand jury’s decision to charge him, based on a finding of probable cause, should be wiped away as if it never occurred.”
However, Washington-based news site The Hill noted that the difference appears largely procedural.
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