This is clear when you consider the fact that a 2019 investigation found that the Obama administration was well aware that Hunter Biden’s role on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma was a problem and was interfering with American policy in Ukraine.
That same investigation also revealed that the Obama administration was involved in transactions that enabled a Chinese government-owned firm to acquire an American military technology firm linked to Hunter.
Some observers believe that a pardon for Joe’s brother, Jim, is also forthcoming and will likely be announced much closer to the end of Joe’s term; Hunter’s pardon may may have been issued earlier in hopes of preempting his sentencing, which was scheduled for later this month.
It marked a stunning reversal from Joe’s previous insistence that he never considered pardoning his son, a stance that Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeated as recently as last month. And while some of Biden’s allies said they were surprised by the pardon, Hunter’s legal team apparently long believed it could end this way.
According to a report by CNN, several officials who worked for Biden never believed him or the aides who spoke for him when they said there wouldn’t be a pardon. One former senior aide said: “Anyone who was even close to the top knew that he was probably going to do this. Why did we pretend otherwise?”
Hunter was convicted in a jury trial this summer of illegally purchasing and owning a gun as a drug user in a trial that exposed his drug abuse and all that went with it, including out-of-control spending on strippers, escorts, drugs, and vehicles and $1.4 million in unpaid taxes. It is believed that Hunter would have never agreed to a guilty plea in his federal tax case in September without expecting a pardon as it could have seen him spending 17 years in prison and paying more than $1 million worth of fines.
Although presidents pardoning family members is not unheard of, this case struck a particular nerve because Biden had previously been so adamant that he wouldn’t do it.
Legal analysts shocked by sweeping nature of Hunter's pardon
His pardon has been so sweeping that it shocked legal analysts. It appears to be aimed at protecting Hunter not only for what he’s already been tried for but also any future prosecution, underscoring the Biden family’s blatant disregard for the law. In particular, they may be worried about Hunter being charged for illegal lobbying, bribery and other charges related to his influence peddling schemes.
Former U.S. pardon attorney Margaret Love said: “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."
Joe has been accused of making the pardon deliberately vague. It has been described as “full and unconditional.” Instead of pardoning Hunter for the gun crimes he was already convicted of and the tax crimes he has already pleaded guilty to, it covers all “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in” from 2014 to 2024. January 2014 is when he joined the board of Burisma.
“Even the broadest Trump pardons were specific as to what was being pardoned,” Love added.
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