The Jury Spoke – Will President Biden Act? - Top 3 Takeaways – June 12th, 2024
- The jury spoke. Those were the words President Biden used when speaking to ABC News last week when he was asked about Donald Trump’s conviction in the New York State case. Specifically, Joe said He got a fair trial. The jury spoke. Also, in that same interview with David Muir, he was asked once again if he’d rule out pardoning his son Hunter should he be convicted in his federal gun case to which he said yes. Joe Biden made it clear in the interview that he would accept the outcome of the trial. Yesterday, following Hunter’s federal conviction, he reiterated more of the same (while notably changing plans last minute to visit Hunter in Delaware before heading off to the G7 in Italy – one wonders what was said from the president to his son in that impromptu get together). But does he really mean it? The messaging from the president, and throughout his administration has been consistent. When White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about whether President Biden would pardon his son she said: I’ve been very clear; the president is not going to pardon his son. Soon we’ll see if the president was telling the truth.
- And potentially before Election Day. The federal judge overseeing the case said she’ll use standard federal timelines for sentencing. That means Hunter will be scheduled for sentencing as soon as 90 days from now or in as many as 120 days from today. Election Day happens to be 146 days away. Next steps, which could include Hunter Biden being sentenced to federal prison after being convicted on three federal gun charges for up to 25 years (though it will likely be a much less severe sentence than that because Hunter has no priors), will play out before the election...if Joe lets it. Yes, if sentencing goes through Hunter will likely appeal the decision, however that wouldn’t necessarily protect him at that point from going to prison (if the judge decided to handle it that way) and the appeal itself could bring additional unwanted attention to the president’s family just prior to the presidential election. If Hunter attempts to appeal the case, he’d likely have to make the appeal on 2nd Amendment grounds because there wasn’t anything questionable about the trial or the jury. Specifically, the constitutional argument that would need to be advanced would be a challenge to the federal law banning a drug addict from legally purchasing a firearm. Would President Biden, who created a White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and who is an avid gun control advocate, want his son to become a potential catalyst for an expansion of Second Amendment rights if successful on appeal? There are a lot of reasons why Joe Biden would want to pardon his son...
- But he decided to box himself in. Right along I’ve thought that win or lose he’d likely pardon Hunter after this year’s Presidential election. However, the timeline doesn’t appear as though it’ll work out too neatly for Hunter and/or for Joe politically if he waits that long. The jury spoke but it doesn’t appear as though their verdict in Hunter Biden’s case was part of Joe’s plan. We shall see if he was telling us the truth about respecting jury verdicts and not pardoning his son. How many people think that what Joe whispered into Hunter’s ear yesterday was something like...Hey son. I really respect the jury’s verdict. You’re on your own here kid...? Many in the godless, soulless and slanderous news media have been quick to paint a contrast between the Biden’s handling Hunter’s conviction with grace and the way the Trump’s have handled the former and perhaps future president’s conviction in the New York State case. It’s not worth getting into how there’s no legitimate comparison between the two but nevertheless, unless you’re convicted that Joe is going to let whatever will be, be with Hunter – including after the election – you might want to think twice about traveling down that path conversationally with others if you’re interested in retaining what you believe is superior morality and credibly.