WaPo’s Editorial Board Rips Biden Pardon as ‘Selfish’

The Post’s editorial board seemed to accuse Joe Biden of undermining its narratives about him. In one action, the Post explained, Joe Biden gave the lie to claims that the president upheld the rule of law and had respect for the judicial process, institutional integrity, and democratic principles.

The Post’s editorial board wrote:

Mr. Biden, of course, argues that pardoning his son strikes a blow for fairness in law enforcement. His statement on the pardon — in which he uses the words, “I believe in the justice system, but …” — claims that “no reasonable person” could “reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son.” Yet such considerations were apparently not so compelling when he pledged previously not to pardon Hunter. And his son clearly broke the law. A federal jury of Hunter Biden’s peers found him guilty of three firearm-related felonies in Delaware. Hunter also pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges that carry a penalty of up to 17 years in prison. The gun charges, essentially that the younger Mr. Biden lied on a purchase application form when he denied using drugs, is particularly hard to ignore. Such laws, however rarely enforced, are on the books to help keep firearms out of the hands of those who might pose a danger to themselves or others.

By implication, Mr. Biden casually impugns investigators at the IRS and the FBI, career prosecutors, Attorney General Merrick Garland and a federal judge in Delaware. Before Mr. Garland became attorney general, Mr. Biden himself chose to keep David C. Weiss as U.S. attorney for Delaware so as not to interfere with Mr. Weiss’s ongoing investigation of the president’s son. In his statement, Mr. Biden complains that a plea deal fell apart in court last summer. In fact, the judge did her job by questioning its irregular structure — highly favorable to Hunter Biden — and the degree to which the defendant believed it would immunize him from future prosecution for unrelated crimes.

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Any Democrat who refuses this week to condemn Mr. Biden’s pardon will have less credibility to criticize Mr. Trump, his meddling at the Justice Department and his choices for key positions in that agency. No one should be surprised if Mr. Trump invokes the Hunter Biden pardon to justify clemency for many more of his allies, potentially including Jan. 6 insurrectionists. With this one intemperate, selfish act, the president has undermined, in hindsight, the lofty rationales he offered for seeking the presidency four years ago and indelibly marred the final chapter of his political career.