President Biden knew that Sunday's pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, after saying all year that he would not intervene, would set off howls from critics.
He boarded Air Force One and flew to Angola on Monday, taking advantage of a planned trip to try to put significant distance between himself and Washington. The uproar followed the president across continents, and Democrats in Congress joined conservatives in registering their anger.
"As a father, I get it. But as someone who wants people to believe in public service again, it's a setback," Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) wrote Monday on social media.
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet (D) wrote online that Biden wrongly "put personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans' faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all."
Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) insisted the president was "wrong" in saying he pardoned his son because he saw a miscarriage of justice inspired by politics rather than criminal gun and tax evasion convictions.
"This wasn't a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers," Stanton posted on social platform X.
The president, who portrayed himself and his party as antidotes to President-elect Trump's propensity for interfering in the justice system, instead followed his example by using his powers as president to benefit his 54-year-old son who might otherwise have been sentenced to prison on felony charges this month.
Biden — who entered politics as a 29-year-old lawyer and Delaware councilman and rose to lead the Senate Judiciary Committee and overcome political plagiarism allegations to become vice president and then president — repeatedly contrasted his motives against Trump's this year using two words: "I'm honest."
He publicly insisted he would not pardon his son or commute a prison sentence he feared Hunter Biden would receive. Until Sunday.
Biden, seen by some Democrats as too stubborn and out of touch to make way much earlier for a younger nominee who might have defeated Trump, has put a damper on what might have been a swell of public tributes as he prepares to end half a century of public service next month.
▪ The Hill: Multiple Democrats slam the president's pardon of his son.
▪ Axios: Biden faces growing blowback from House and Senate Democrats after pardoning his son.
Biden left members of his party wide open to the charge of double standards, and he supplied a pretext for Trump to issue controversial pardons of his own — perhaps including people convicted of Jan. 6-related offenses, The Hill's Niall Stanage writes.
Trump reacted to Biden's announcement Sunday by claiming that the rioters convicted for their role in attacking the Capitol in 2021 deserved to be offered the same pardon privilege.
"Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?" the president-elect wrote on Truth Social. "Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!"
Just hours earlier, the Trump team based in Florida vowed to overhaul what it said was a "Democrat-controlled" Department of Justice, which convicted the younger Biden on separate charges in Delaware and California.
"The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system," Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote in a statement. "That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans."
▪ The Washington Post: At the end of his first term, Trump used his clemency power as a political weapon, rewarding loyalists and undermining prosecutors.
▪ The Hill: America's history of controversial pardons now includes Hunter Biden.
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