Joe Biden was led to pardon his son Hunter Biden of all charges — lying about his addiction on an application to buy a gun and even more importantly, his evasion of $1.4 million in taxes — because, he claimed, the prosecution of Hunter Biden was politically motivated. But the judge who presided over Hunter Biden’s tax evasion trial, Judge Mark Scarsi, was infuriated by Joe Biden’s claim, which would have us believe that had Hunter Biden been named Hunter Smith, and been no relation to President Biden, and had acted just as Hunter Biden did, evading $1.4 million in taxes, he would never have been brought to trial.
More on Judge Scarsi’s furious reaction to Joe Biden’s justification for giving a complete pardon, covering the last ten years of Hunter’s misdeeds, not all of which may yet be known, can be found here: “Judge in Hunter Biden tax case rebukes president’s claims of unfair treatment,” by Ella Lee, The Hill, December 3, 2o24:
The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s tax case issued a sharp rebuke of President Biden’s claims his son was unfairly prosecuted in new court filings Tuesday night.
U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi said that President Biden’s statement announcing a full and unconditional pardon of his son stands “in tension with the case record” in Hunter Biden’s California proceedings.
President Biden asserted in the statement that “no reasonable person who looks at the facts of (Hunter Biden’s) case can reach any other conclusion than (Hunter Biden) was singled out because he is (the president’s) son.” But Scarsi, a Trump appointee, notes that two federal judges “expressly rejected” the younger Biden’s legal arguments that he was unfairly prosecuted.
“The President’s own Attorney General and Department of Justice personnel oversaw the investigation leading to the charges,” Scarsi wrote. “In the President’s estimation, this legion of federal civil servants, the undersigned included, are unreasonable people.”
Scarsi further castigated President Biden for claiming his son “was treated differently” than others who paid their taxes late due to addiction, when in his guilty plea, Hunter Biden admitted he engaged in tax evasion after he regained sobriety.
“In short, a press release is not a pardon,” Scarsi wrote of the statement released by the White House Sunday night from Biden announcing the pardon. “The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history.”
The judge said he would dispose of the case once he receives the official pardon from “the appropriate executive agency.” Meanwhile, he vacated Hunter Biden’s sentencing, which was scheduled for Dec. 16.
He also expressed concern over the pardon’s language, which granted clemency to Hunter Biden for his offenses against the country “during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.” Because the pardon was issued before the day’s end, Scarsi questioned whether President Biden exceeded the scope of his presidential pardon power by granting relief for future offenses — even if just for a few hours.
However, the judge ultimately declined to interpret the warrant that way.
Hunter Biden in September pleaded guilty to all nine federal tax charges he faced, admitting he withheld at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years in the throes of his addiction to cocaine, spending it instead on a lavish lifestyle.
The stunning and last-minute twist staved off a second criminal trial this year just before it was set to begin. The younger Biden was found guilty in June of federal gun charges after a trial in Delaware….
Had Joe Biden simply pardoned his son, without any judge-bashing commentary to justify it, it would have been bad enough. But as Judge Scasi notes, it was Biden’s claim of a political vendetta against his son that was possibly even worse. For Biden was calling into question the fairness of the judges, from Mark Scasi on down, who had presided over Hunter Biden’s various trials. Such a self-serving remark undermines, quite unfairly, public faith in the judiciary, all in order to justify his pardon. Hunter Biden was not treated unfairly. Or rather, the “unfair” treatment he received was that full and unconditional pardon that his doting father provided. With this act, and with his entirely fabricated justification for the pardon — that Hunter Biden was being prosecuted as part of a political vendetta against his father — Joe Biden has brazenly mischaracterized the crimes Hunter Biden committed, has admitted to, and was convicted for: lying about his drug addiction in order to buy a gun, and evading taxes of $1.4 million dollars over a four-year period.
It is likely that this act — his pardon for his son, and his meretricious justification for that pardon — will be among the handful that will stamp his presidency for posterity. Biden will now be leaving at the lowest point of his tenure. He did it to himself.
rick says
Joe Biden and the Hunter debacle is getting worse and worse. It has gone to a laughing out loud matter to being sick at the thought of this whole family occuping the White House. The Bidens are a low class , crude family interested in making money by the position of the “big guy” in American politics. Trump better check the contents of the White House when he finally moves in. No telling what these people took home with them.
Blougeoisie says
The only thing unfair about this is that hunter’s pop has the ability to pardon him at all.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I understand Presidential pardons for crimes for which the recipient has already been charged, if not convicted & sentenced. What I don’t get is how the President pardons someone for crimes s/he’s not been charged w/. Now, they’re talking about Biden pre-emptively pardoning people like Fauci or Millie, so that they can’t be prosecuted in future for anything regarding Covid or the Afghanistan withdrawal
I’m pretty sure the Founders never intended for pardons to be an instrument of pre-emptive justice, the way the Biden side seems to be contemplating it
James Lincoln says
Yes, Infidel.
I’m not an attorney, but:
Preemptive pardons make absolutely no sense to me legally.
Tim gallagher says
I can understand how a person who is intrinsically corrupt as Joe Biden seems to be would think that it is unfair for the law to get in the way of the Biden mafia family and their corrupt activities. What a low life bunch of scumbags all the Biden’s seem to be. On another subject, Australia has had the same huge rise in anti Jewish sentiment as all other western countries. This morning a synagogue was set on fire in Melbourne. Might be Muslims or their left wing buddies or maybe Nazis. You let Muslims into any country, the country becomes so much worse than it used to be,that’s for sure
Brian Smith says
You’re not wrong on the Muslim question. Here, in the UK, parts of the country are near civil war. .I’m leaving for Spain soon!
Tim gallagher says
Yes, I can see Australia turning out as badly as the UK in future years and plenty of Australians deciding that it is place to leave behind. Dumbest move ever, by all our western countries, was letting Muslims in
David M says
If the Democrats had any credibility left before this, it’s gone now. The whining leftists on TV have been crapping on for years how Trump is “a threat to democracy”, and how “Trump is not above the law.” Well, it all just blew up in your face when old Joe did this.
It’s nothing but an admission the Biden family have been committing real crimes for the last 11 years, not the made up ones they accuse Trump of. We all know Hunter was the bag man of the corruption operation, & the big guy Joe got his 10% cut.
OLD GUY says
I’ll bet Joe got more than 10%.
James Lincoln says
David M says,
“If the Democrats had any credibility left before this, it’s gone now.”
Yes – totally.
Tom says
“Never underestimate Joe’s ability to f*** things up.” Obama. Says it all.
Matthew Pohl says
You folks are letting the muslims off far too lightly. I don’t even know how a “religion” that says infidels (98% of us) should be converted, subjugated, or eliminated is allowed to exist in the USA. Hang in there, Matt
Charles Valenzuela says
Biden doesn’t believe any such thing. He’s been covering up and bailing his scumbag deviant son out for more than 20 years. Biden knows that Hunter is a criminal and he’s known it all along. The entire family are trailer trash criminals. They know it, I know it, and YOU know it.
somehistory says
The pardon goes all the way back to when the slimy son went to Ukraine and began his illegal use of his father’s position as vp.
What prosecutors need to do after the 20th swearing, is begin a hard look at December of ’13 and before.
The scummy dross convicted criminal didn’t just wake up on Jan 1, ’14 and think up a plan to blackmail reps of foreign governments. those plans were being stewed before that.
biden got the vp seat in 2008….collusion, conspiracy, extortion (blackmail)…Investigators should begin looking on the down-low so biden can’t jump in with another pardon before charges can be laid.
joe didn’t believe his son was treated unfairly….he just doesn’t want his own crimes to be prosecuted.