This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: President Biden has issued a full and unconditional pardon for his son Hunter Biden Sunday evening, just days before Hunter was set to be sentenced for his federal gun conviction and a separate tax evasion case. In a statement, President Biden said, quote, “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. 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.” Biden went on to write, quote, “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” unquote.
President Biden and his aides had repeatedly said Hunter Biden would not be pardoned. This is Biden in June being interviewed by ABC’s David Muir.
DAVID MUIR: As we sit here in Normandy, your son Hunter is on trial. And I know that you cannot speak about an ongoing federal prosecution. But let me ask you: Will you accept the jury’s outcome, their verdict, no matter what it is?
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Yes.
DAVID MUIR: And have you ruled out a pardon for your son?
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Yes.
DAVID MUIR: You have.
AMY GOODMAN: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has also repeatedly denied the president would pardon his son.
MARK MEREDITH: From a presidential perspective, is there any possibility that the president would end up pardoning his son?
PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN–PIERRE: No.
MARK MEREDITH: Well, is there —
PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN–PIERRE: I just said no.
MARK MEREDITH: [inaudible]
PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN–PIERRE: I just answered. Go ahead. Go ahead.
PETER DOOCY: It’s the first briefing since Hunter was indicted again in Los Angeles. Why doesn’t President Biden just pardon him?
PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN–PIERRE: The president — I’ve been very clear: The president is not going to pardon his son.
ZEKE MILLER: You’ve also said several times that the president would not pardon nor commute the sentences for his son Hunter. I just want to make sure that that is not going to change over the next six months. The president is saying —
PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN–PIERRE: It’s still —
ZEKE MILLER: — he would not —
PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN–PIERRE: It’s still — it’s still a no. It’s still a no.
ZEKE MILLER: It will always be a no?
PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN–PIERRE: It’s still a no. It will be a no. It — it is a no. And I don’t have anything else to add. Will he pardon his son? No.
AMY GOODMAN: President Biden’s decision to pardon his son comes as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office after campaigning in part on prosecuting his political enemies, while also vowing to pardon Trump supporters who participated in the January 6th insurrection.
Over the weekend, Trump picked Kash Patel to head the FBI. Patel has vowed to go after what he calls conspirators in the government and media. Trump also picked the real estate developer Charles Kushner to be U.S. ambassador to France. Kushner is Trump’s in-law. He is the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In 2020, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, who spent 14 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to 16 charges of tax evasion and witness tampering in the 2000s.
We begin today’s show with Mehdi Hasan, the editor-in-chief of the new media website Zeteo.
Thanks for joining us again, Mehdi. First, your response to President Biden pardoning Hunter, a total, unconditional pardon going back to 2014?
MEHDI HASAN: It is a sweeping pardon, as you just mentioned. And you played the clips. I think we can hold multiple thoughts in our head at one time on Hunter Biden. Number one, did Joe Biden lie when he said he wouldn’t pardon Hunter Biden? Clearly, he did. Is he a hypocrite for saying no one is above the law and then bringing his son above the law? Yes. Should the presidency be used to protect family members? No. I think we can all agree on those points.
Having said that, the kind of outrage from Republicans and some in the media is a little bit kind of ridiculous. We all know that Hunter Biden was targeted. The president is right when he says that they went after his son because he was his son. Anyone called Hunter Smith wouldn’t have been prosecuted in the same way for the tax evasion and the gun form, that many people get wrong or provide incorrect information on.
And as for the Republicans kind of crying foul right now, you have Kash Patel — I know we’re going to talk about Kash Patel — who is a Trump toady who’s about to be appointed FBI director, if he can get through the Senate. He’s on record saying he’s going to go after the Bidens. The Republicans have made very clear they plan to carry on going after the Biden family. So, is it understandable that Joe Biden is trying to protect his son from future investigations? It is understandable. That doesn’t make it right. But come on. As you mentioned, as well, a moment ago, Amy, Charles Kushner is about to become ambassador to France. He is the father-in-law of Ivanka Trump who Trump pardoned in December 2020. So, you know, let’s just get rid of the presidential pardon power, which would require a constitutional amendment. I think that’s the source of all the corruption.
AMY GOODMAN: And, of course, as we talk about pardons, I mean, it would be very interesting to see President Biden, very significant, pardon, for example, Leonard Peltier —
MEHDI HASAN: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: — or talk about pardons or commutations for people on federal death row. Biden himself —
MEHDI HASAN: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: — has said he’s against the death penalty.
MEHDI HASAN: You’ve got about 40 people, I believe, still on the federal death row. Yes, pardon them. Pardon them now, because we remember when Donald Trump was leaving office last time, he actually escalated executions at the federal level at a rate we hadn’t seen before for several years. So, yes, pardon 40 people on death row. Pardon 3,000 people in prison, Amy, on federal marijuana offenses, outdated, ridiculous marijuana offenses. Pardon them, not just your own, you know, former addict son.
There’s so much a president could do with the presidential pardon power for good. We saw Trump misuse it in all sorts of ways for people like Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner and Roger Stone. Now we’re seeing Joe Biden misuse it for his own son. Even if it is understandable, it’s still wrong. Why not use it for a good cause? But as I say, I would rather get rid of the pardon power, but, of course, we can’t do that without a constitutional amendment.
