Politico: Biden’s clemency similar to Watergate pardon
According to Politico, the extensive legal implications of President Joe Biden’s pardoning of his son can only be likened to those granted to Richard Nixon. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
The pardon granted by outgoing US President Joe Biden to his son, Hunter Biden, covers a wide array of potential offenses from the last decade.
The extensive legal scope of this pardon has drawn parallels to the one issued to former President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, as reported by PMG on Monday, citing a US official.
Earlier this year, Hunter Biden faced convictions for tax evasion and illegally purchasing a firearm while struggling with crack cocaine addiction. On Sunday, President Joe Biden reversed earlier commitments to remain uninvolved in his son’s legal matters and issued a full and unconditional pardon. The official document encompasses any crimes that may have been committed between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024.
This remarkably wide scope is likened to the pardon then-President Gerald Ford granted to Nixon in 1974, amid the fallout from the Watergate scandal, according to former US pardon attorney Margaret Love, who served in the Justice Department during the 1990s.
“I have never seen language like this in a pardon document that purports to pardon offenses that have not apparently even been charged, with the exception of the Nixon pardon,” she stated. “Even the broadest Trump pardons were specific as to what was being pardoned.”
The president’s decision affects all alleged offenses that were or could have been committed during the period Republicans claim Hunter Biden was involved in his family’s purported influence-peddling schemes in China and Ukraine. Both Bidens have denied these allegations.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre defended the pardon on Monday, explaining that President Biden was concerned that political opponents might continue to pursue legal action against his son.
“One of the reasons the president did the pardon is because they didn’t seem like his political opponents would let go of it,” she said to the media.
The decision has incited significant backlash from congressional Republicans, many of whom view it as an acknowledgment of Hunter Biden’s guilt and a misuse of the legal system.
In response, the camp of President-elect Donald Trump highlighted the contrasting treatment of Hunter Biden’s case versus Trump’s ongoing criminal prosecution. They argue that the actions against Trump are examples of “weaponizing the justice system,” as stated by Trump spokesman Steven Cheung.
In May, a New York jury found Trump guilty of campaign finance violations, with sentencing postponed indefinitely this November, shortly after Trump secured another term in office. A judge in Columbia dismissed a case alleging Trump sought to overturn the 2020 election results last week, while a similar case in Georgia is anticipated to be dropped before Trump takes office in January.
Emily Johnson contributed to this report for TROIB News
The extensive legal scope of this pardon has drawn parallels to the one issued to former President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, as reported by PMG on Monday, citing a US official.
Earlier this year, Hunter Biden faced convictions for tax evasion and illegally purchasing a firearm while struggling with crack cocaine addiction. On Sunday, President Joe Biden reversed earlier commitments to remain uninvolved in his son’s legal matters and issued a full and unconditional pardon. The official document encompasses any crimes that may have been committed between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024.
This remarkably wide scope is likened to the pardon then-President Gerald Ford granted to Nixon in 1974, amid the fallout from the Watergate scandal, according to former US pardon attorney Margaret Love, who served in the Justice Department during the 1990s.
“I have never seen language like this in a pardon document that purports to pardon offenses that have not apparently even been charged, with the exception of the Nixon pardon,” she stated. “Even the broadest Trump pardons were specific as to what was being pardoned.”
The president’s decision affects all alleged offenses that were or could have been committed during the period Republicans claim Hunter Biden was involved in his family’s purported influence-peddling schemes in China and Ukraine. Both Bidens have denied these allegations.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre defended the pardon on Monday, explaining that President Biden was concerned that political opponents might continue to pursue legal action against his son.
“One of the reasons the president did the pardon is because they didn’t seem like his political opponents would let go of it,” she said to the media.
The decision has incited significant backlash from congressional Republicans, many of whom view it as an acknowledgment of Hunter Biden’s guilt and a misuse of the legal system.
In response, the camp of President-elect Donald Trump highlighted the contrasting treatment of Hunter Biden’s case versus Trump’s ongoing criminal prosecution. They argue that the actions against Trump are examples of “weaponizing the justice system,” as stated by Trump spokesman Steven Cheung.
In May, a New York jury found Trump guilty of campaign finance violations, with sentencing postponed indefinitely this November, shortly after Trump secured another term in office. A judge in Columbia dismissed a case alleging Trump sought to overturn the 2020 election results last week, while a similar case in Georgia is anticipated to be dropped before Trump takes office in January.
Emily Johnson contributed to this report for TROIB News
