Summary

President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden, reversing his prior stance against using executive clemency.

The pardon covers Hunter’s federal gun conviction and tax evasion guilty plea, sparking political controversy.

Biden cited political attacks and a “miscarriage of justice” as reasons for his decision, emphasizing his son’s recovery from addiction and the targeting of his family.

Critics argue the move undermines the judicial process, while supporters view it as within Biden’s constitutional powers.

This decision shields Hunter from potential prison time as Biden nears the end of his presidency.

  • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    You do realize they had solid evidence of. at least, one 3rd degree felony, owning a firearm when previous convictions bar you from doing so committed fraud on the paperwork to own a gun. right? He has been in criminal trouble, doing things many people are spending decades in prison for, and has never had a serious issue because daddy is Joe Biden. You know, one of the biggest signatories to the drug war, that Joe Biden? Fuck him.

    • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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      1 day ago

      Yes, but the “fraud” was him just saying he had no drugs in his system, for a gun he only owned for 11 days.

      And as many legal scholars have pointed out, no one really ever gets charged for this, it’s just sorta “on the books” with its use against Hunter Biden being one of the only times the law has ever been enforced, and it was only enforced to score a political point with the far right.

      Selective enforcement is wrong, no matter if you’re the President’s son or just another face in the crowd in the most poverty stricken town in America.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      He was not a felon. That rule applies to felony convictions. And can be repaired by the state that convicted you.

      The charges were for buying a gun while being an addict.

      • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Ok, I was wrong about it being barred. He got a felony fraud charge for lying on the paperwork to own the gun. It is still a crime, and he still did it. The charges aren’t fake. My point still stands that he is going to not have anything happen, again, because he is a nepo-baby, fuck him. There are people in prison for this, right now, and his dad was one of the biggest political agents behind the types of laws he broke. Rules for thee, and all that.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          I don’t care who his dad is the law is a thought crime that can get you put in prison on nothing more than innuendo. Make a bad joke about drugs after going to a shooting range? You too can go to prison.

          And it’s rarely used as anything more than an add on charge because of its constitutional dubiousness. We shouldn’t be okay with this happening to anyone.

          • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            I never agreed with the law. I am mad that he broke a law, one his dad fought for, and he isn’t going to go to prison for it like I would. The law its self is a whole other matter than what is being discussed here, about him being pardoned, after being convicted of a crime, because daddy is the president, with the extra poignancy that daddy is one of the major reasons that law exists.

            • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              Biden was at Syracuse University in 1968. He would go on to be elected to the County Council. He didn’t become a Senator until 1973. So how exactly was he, “one of the major reasons that law exists”, when he wasn’t even an elected official at the time.

              • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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                1 day ago

                Didn’t say he wrote it, or that he voted to initially pass it. I said he is a major reason it exists. This law has come under fire numerous times, and Joe has always supported it, rather than supporting over-turning it. Even as recently as 2023, after the supreme court decided it was unconstitutional, he still staunchly showed his support for it.

                • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                  1 day ago

                  with the extra poignancy that daddy is one of the major reasons that law exists.

                  Funny, that sounds a lot like he either created it or filibustered its repeal. Do you have evidence he did a filibuster? Or is this another thing Fox News threw out there to smear him? Because that sentence sure doesn’t sound like he’s just got the cheerleading poms poms out.

                  • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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                    1 day ago

                    From what I have read, after making my original correction, it has been on the line to be removed, or changed, a handful of times over the decades. Biden has always voted in support, and worked to convince other congress members that it should stay. So, yeah, he has used his political capital in order to make sure it stayed in, at least as recently as the negotiations of the 1994 crime bill.

        • btaf45@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          My point still stands that he is going to not have anything happen, again, because he is a nepo-baby, fuck him

          What actually happened is that the only reason he was prosecuted was because he was a high profile person.

          Hunter Biden was not above the law in the case. He was below the law.

      • kreskin@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        He was not a felon

        Not true. Hunter Biden was convicted of 3 felony tax evasion charges and 6 misdemeanor tax evasion charges totalling 1.4 million in intentional fraud. Plus three felony charges of lying on a gun registration. He absolutely was a 6 time felon awaiting sentencing. The decision whether he was a felon or not was already settled by a jury of his peers.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          The above comment was deleted, but they were referring to the felony bar to purchasing a firearm. Which is why that’s what my comment discusses.

    • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      You do realize they had solid evidence of. at least, one 3rd degree felony, owning a firearm when previous convictions bar you from doing so committed fraud on the paperwork to own a gun. right? He has been in criminal trouble, doing things many people are spending decades in prison for, and has never had a serious issue because daddy is Joe Biden. You know, one of the biggest signatories to the drug war, that Joe Biden? Fuck him.

      reposting my old comment here because it deleted when I saved the edit