It’s not just Republicans who are upset with the president’s decision…
Colorado Governor Jared Polis took to X over the weekend to share his thoughts about President Biden pardoning son Hunter Biden, letting the First Son off the hook for gun and tax crimes he would have been sentenced for this month.
Polis posted the following on X:
While as a father I certainly understand President @JoeBiden’s natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country. This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation. When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation. Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.
CNN legal analyst Elie Honig agreed with Polis, saying the pardon would likely tarnish Biden’s legacy.
“Well, I totally agree with the governor that this pardon will tarnish Joe Biden’s legacy,” Honig said on CNN Monday morning. “I mean, Joe Biden, let’s be clear here, he lied to us for a long time. He said categorically, ‘I will not pardon my son.’ He said I will take it off the table. And he couched it in very high-minded terminology: ‘I respect the Justice Department. I respect the jury’s verdict.’ Well, now he’s gone back on that.”
“But as to whether this tarnishes the justice system, I don’t think I would go that far. I think this, like I said, will go down on the list of ignominious presidential pardons. But I don’t think law students 50 or 100 years from now are going to look back at this as a horrific miscarriage of justice that undermines the foundation of our justice system,” he concluded. “There is a reasonable argument that in some respects, Hunter Biden was treated unfairly. And I think that will give Joe Biden some degree of cover here.”
