What the Hell, Sure

On Sunday evening, President Joe Biden reportedly channeled his inner Jemima Kirke answering questions on her Instagram story and said, “What the hell, sure.” That’s right: The president issued a full and unconditional pardon to his rascal of a 54-year-old son, Hunter. Earlier this year, Hunter was convicted of illegally buying and possessing a gun while using drugs and also pleaded guilty to nine tax offenses, which stemmed from owing $1.4 million in taxes while simultaneously dropping quite a pretty penny on sex workers, cars, and illegal drugs. All of that is… not ideal, but as Biden alludes to in his statement, Hunter’s varying criminal activities and indiscretions became a highly politicized boogeyman for Republicans. The GOP has spent the better part of the last six odd years (emphasis on odd!) holding one needless investigation or Congressional hearing after another on a man who has never held political office.

“I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice. … I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” Biden wrote. He alleged that Hunter was “singled out” for prosecution “only because he is my son”

Truly: Good for Hunter! Who cares! My one ask is that Biden also take full advantage of the sweeping powers of the presidency to pardon, offer clemency, or commute the sentences of unjustly prosecuted individuals across the country, who are disproportionately poor and people of color. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there are currently 2,241 people on state or federal death rows across the U.S.

Since Trump won the election, the ACLU has been campaigning for Biden to issue clemency to all 40 people who are currently on federal death row, citing Trump’s record of overseeing the executions of more people than any president in 120 years in his first term. And, lest you forgot, in 2020, Biden ran on abolishing the death penalty. That hasn’t happened and probably isn’t going to happen in the next month and a half. But there are still other ways the outgoing president can try to honor that promise. 

Another idea: After running on “restoring Roe” and posturing as abortion rights’ last line of defense against a man who once upon a time declared that “there should be some punishment” for people who have abortions, Biden could preemptively pardon abortion providers found liable for violating abortion bans. Something to think about!

Suffice it to say, Republicans are having a field day with the Hunter pardon, which is essentially their Super Bowl. Trump, who was convicted of 34 felony charges earlier this year and may have faced prison time had he not won, called the pardon a "miscarriage of justice," while the world's most famous political nepo baby called Hunter a "nepo baby."

In any case, amid developing reports about what went into Biden’s decision to pardon his son (beyond the obvious that this is his son, who was staring down a potential prison sentence), there are a couple particularly intriguing tidbits. CNN reports that had Kamala Harris won the election, “sources close to the president say, a pardon would have been less likely — in part because of concerns of the political fallout.” In other words, Hunter may be the one person (other than billionaires and white supremacists) who benefited from Trump winning a second term. Cool! 

Both before and after the election, the Biden administration maintained that there was no plan to pardon Hunter. According to CNN, the president arrived at this decision while spending time with his family over the holiday weekend, and amid reports that Hunter would remain a high-profile political target under the Trump administration. The outlet also reports that Biden firmly believes Republicans’ years-long war on Hunter was meant to “break” his son while Hunter was and is still recovering from addiction. Biden ultimately justified his decision by citing Hunter's nearly six years of sobriety “even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution.” 

I repeat: Good for Hunter! And I want the same for individuals across the country who have been mistreated by the criminal legal system, and whose parents aren’t the president of the United States.

Read and sign the ACLU’s petition calling on President Biden to commute the federal death row here.