Joe Biden overnight pardoned his son Hunter ten days before sentencing was due to begin over his federal convictions on gun charges and evasion of $1.4 million in tax. Hunter spent the cash on ‘items including cars, drugs, and prostitutes’…
Three weeks ago the White House insisted Biden would not pardon Hunter, as it has done for years. Co-conspirators may remember some of the media reaction when Trump pardoned some aides a few years ago:
Coverage was predictably hysterical as papers predicted Trump would pardon his children or Rudy Giuliani. CNN said Trump pardoning his children would be “the most outrageous possible abuse of the pardon power.” No sign of that now – it just cautions that Biden has “deepened an entanglement of politics and the rule of law that has tarnished faith in American justice and is almost certain to worsen in Donald Trump’s second term.“ So it’s Trump’s fault…
The BBC’s analysis says “Biden hopes Americans will understand son’s pardon” and that the outgoing President “may be criticised” for the move: “It’s something to keep in mind when Trump returns to office, as he is expected to again use his pardoning power to aid associates.” So, Trump’s fault again. The Guardian says “perhaps it was what any parent would have done”…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”