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Biden was right to pardon his son and he should do a lot more before it’s too late

by David Oscar Markus, opinion contributor - 12/03/24 12:00 PM ET

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PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PARDON OF HIS SON HUNTER SENT OUT SHOCKWAVES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. BECAUSE HE HAD REPEATEDLY PROMISED *NOT TO DO IT - LIKE AT THIS PRESS CONFERENCE IN JUNE. < President Biden "I said that I abide by the jury decision. I will do that, and I will not pardon him." > [Duration:0:05] THE PARDON GRANTS HUNTER CLEMENCY FOR HIS CONVICTION ON FELONY GUN CHARGES - AND FOR HIS GUILTY PLEA ON TAX CHARGES. HE WAS SET TO BE SENTENCED IN BOTH CASES LATER THIS MONTH. BUT WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN PIERRE SAYS PRESIDENT BIDEN DECIDED THIS WEEKEND THAT HE WOULD ISSUE THE PARDON. < Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary "He wrestled with it. He thought about it." > [Duration:0:03] IN HIS STATEMENT PRESIDENT BIDEN SAYS HE MADE THE DECISION BECAUSE HE BELIEVES HUNTER WAS TREATED UNFAIRLY FOR POLITICAL REASONS. < Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary "they targeted him because his last name was Biden." > [Duration:0:04] REPUBLICANS IMMEDIATELY SLAMMED THE PARDON - HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON SAID IN A POST "Trust in our justice system has been almost irreparably damaged by the Bidens and their use and abuse of it." AND DEMOCRATS ARE CRITICIZING THE DECISION TOO - SENATOR MICHAEL BENNETT WROTE ON X "President Biden's decision put personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans' faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all." < Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary "he believes in the justice system but he also believes the war politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice." > [Duration:0:09] < HANNAH TAG THE PARDON NOT ONLY COVER'S HUNTER'S GUN AND TAX CRIMES, BUT ALSO ANY FEDERAL OFFENSES HE'S COMMITTED OR ACCUSED OF OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS. IN WASHINGTON, I'M HANNAH BRANDT. > < SUGGESTED QUESTION HOW IS THE TRUMP TEAM REACTING TO THE PARDON? > < ANSWER THEY'RE FUNDRAISING OFF OF IT - CALLING THEM THE BIDEN CRIME FAMILY ON THE WINRED PLATFORM AND ACCUSING THEM OF SWEEPING CORRUPTION UNDER THE RUG. BUT MANY PEOPLE ARE POINTING OUT THAT DURING HIS LAST TERM PRESIDENT TRUMP PARDONED CHARLES KUSHNER, THE FATHER OF HIS SON IN LAW, AND SEVERAL OTHER PERSONAL ALLIES. >" station="" title="" feed="" html_embed="true" no_pr="false" disable_muted_autoplay="false" expect_preroll="true" json_feed="" class="" /]

A member of the president’s family was convicted of tax crimes and making false statements. Many believe the prosecution was unjust. And then came the pardon. And the criticism.

No, not Hunter Biden. In December of 2020, President Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, Jared Kushner’s father (Jared is married to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka). It was not just Kushner. Trump also pardoned Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and other allies.

Now enter President Biden. He pardoned his son Hunter on Sunday for tax crimes, for making false statements to purchase a firearm, and for any other federal crimes he might have committed in the last 11 years. The criticism from both sides of the aisle was fast and furious.

But Biden was right to pardon his son. For starters, any parent would do the same thing. There can be lots of debate about whether Biden should have made promises about not pardoning Hunter (he should not have) or whether Hunter would have been prosecuted if his last name had not been Biden (he would not have). But there should be no debate that a father should forgive his son, whether he’s president or not.

And those who are criticizing Biden for abandoning “the rule of law” by issuing a pardon miss the whole point of this power. By definition, a pardon will be for someone who has committed a crime. So those who are upset about “the rule of law” would not agree with any pardon. Take it up with the Framers.

Now that Hunter’s pardon is done, President Biden needs to lean into his pardon and clemency power. The truth is that the federal criminal justice system is littered with terribly unjust convictions and sentences. The president has the constitutional power to fix these injustices — either by pardoning a person convicted of a federal crime or by commuting a sentence.

Unfortunately, Biden has barely used that power to date. Putting aside pardons for possession of marijuana, he has granted only 26 pardons and 131 commutations (which is about 1 percent of all the petitions submitted to the pardon office to date). And almost none of these are white-collar offenses, which get very little attention for this sort of review. In that respect, Hunter’s pardon is, unfortunately, rather unique.

Instead of condemnation for showing love and mercy to his son, we should be embracing Biden’s decision and encouraging him to show that same mercy to so many well-deserving people serving unjust sentences — in many cases, for unjust convictions.

Many presidents issue a few pardons and commutations at the end of their term to show at least a little mercy. But Biden has the opportunity do something truly special and unique — clear the board of the many unjust convictions and sentences in our federal system. He must not be stingy.

Mr. President, don’t succumb to fear. Don’t listen to all of the noise about doing the right thing for your son. Now is the time to do the right thing for so many others and make our criminal justice system just a little more fair.

David Oscar Markusis a criminal defense attorney. He tries cases and argues appeals throughout the country. Markus runs the Southern District of Florida blog and hosts a podcast.

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