Staff Reports
Biden’s grand finale before leaving the Oval Office was something out of a political soap opera, but instead of dramatic cliffhangers, it traded in preemptive pardons for his family and closest allies. On the very last day of his presidency, he tossed out pardons to his son Hunter, Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and even some members of the notorious Jan. 6 committee. This bold maneuver, which came just hours before Trump was due to be sworn in, has set off alarm bells among conservatives who see it as a radical expansion of executive power.
Contrary to his previous promises to avoid preemptive pardons—a notion he himself seemed to regard with suspicion when it came to Trump—Biden has now opened a Pandora’s box of possibilities. A former federal prosecutor emphasized just how perilous this new standard could be, suggesting that it paints a target on the backs of law and order in America. By essentially granting blanket immunity to his political pals for any offences dating back to 2014—conveniently, around the time Hunter was busy making questionable deals with foreign energy companies—Biden truly raised eyebrows across the political spectrum.
Adding a twist to the tale, Hunter’s nonchalant pardon seemed almost scripted, granting him a shiny get-out-of-jail-free card just as the administration was wrapping up. In a world where reputations hang by a thread, Devon Archer, Hunter’s former business partner, was rather blunt when discussing the Biden family’s influence. The portrayal of the family brand as a lucrative asset is as entertaining as it is concerning. But really, who could have predicted that privilege and politics would mix this way at the very end of Biden’s term?
Critics, including legal experts, foresee that Biden’s choice to wield the pardon pen in such a sweeping manner may only invite future Presidents to adopt similar tactics, thus turning pardons into political bargaining chips rather than solemn acts of mercy. The juxtaposition of Biden’s actions against his earlier rhetoric reeks of hypocrisy. It raises eyebrows as he once warned about the implications such permissiveness could have on the perception of America’s rule of law. Looks like that concern has evaporated faster than his campaign promises.
Biden’s sudden about-face on sweeping pardons for family members, allies sets ‘perilous precedent,’ orchestrated by puppeteers due to cognitive inability of ‘President’. https://t.co/fgGWQsQnng
— Randall Brink (@randallbrink) January 21, 2025
For those hoping that these pardons might be tested in court, they might want to make peace with that notion. Legal experts suggest that due to a lack of viable plaintiffs to challenge them, these pardons might be as unchallengeable as they are questionable. Although some legal scholars claim broad preemptive pardons could be declared invalid based on legal technicalities, the reality is that Biden’s last-second flurry of pardons has thrown a real monkey wrench into the established judicial processes.
Biden’s tenure wrapped up with a flourish, including commuting the sentences of over 2,500 people, some of whom had committed heinous crimes. The irony is that Joe Biden, champion of the law and order narrative, appears to have become its greatest saboteur. While conservatives ponder the fallout from his final acts, eyes shift to a potential future where Trump, armed with Biden’s precedent, might issue his own sequel of pardons as a defensive maneuver against future politically-motivated prosecutions. Who knew that power plays and political theater could end up like a game of chess gone horribly wrong?
