A Father-Son Moment -- Dad Forgives Hunter BIden
by Mary W Maxwell, LLB
Article II, section 2, of the US Constitution says a president "shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."
Allow me to discuss four points about the Biden pardon of his son Hunter.
Point 1. It is fantastically helpful. When persons are questioned during investigations or trials, they are allowed to refuse to answer "on the grounds that it may incriminate me." That is known as pleading the Fifth. From today forward Hunter will not be allowed to plead the fifth on any matter that occurred before today (December 2, 2024). That is because nothing can incriminate him. His soul has been wiped clean, as it were.
Point 2. I am personally happy that Hunter will go free. As far as I know, his mom (Joe Biden's first wife Neilia) died in a deliberate car crash in 1972, to make Joe malleable. The one-year old daughter also died in that crash and both boys Hunter and Beau were seriously injured. I am guessing that under such an ordeal, Hunter grew up very traumatized. But for the pardon, Hunter would now be facing constant humiliation by the press.
Point 3. Even though I personally welcome the news, I think Congress should now augment the Constitution with a statute limiting the pardon power to crimes for which a person already stands convicted. On Christmas Eve, 1992, at the end of his presidency, George HW Bush pardoned Caspar "Cap" Weinberger, US Sec'y of Defense. Cap was awaiting trial. The expected testimony in that trial would incriminate Bush himself. In other words, it operated as a self-pardon. Nobody protested.
So what is the current jurisprudence on this? To find out, just google for "US Constitution annotated." It tells you, section by section and clause by clause, of any Supreme Court's ruling related to that bit. Thus:
"In the 1886 case Ex parte Garland, the Court referred to the President’s authority to pardon as unlimited except in cases of impeachment, extending to every offence known to the law and able to be exercised either before legal proceedings are taken, or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment. Much later, the Court wrote that the broad power conferred in the Constitution gives the President plenary authority to 'forgive’ [a] convicted person in part or entirely...." [Emphasis added]
Even if SCOTUS does not change the above, people can change by making a stink so that future presidents won't try any tricks. And legal scholars can debate it loudly.
Note: I said that Congress can get into the act. I said this in spite of the fact that In Ex parte Garland, the Court held that the power of the President to pardon is not subject to legislative control. "Congress can neither limit the effect of his pardon, nor exclude from its exercise any class of offenders. The benign prerogative of mercy reposed in him cannot be fettered by any legislative restrictions." The Framers intended that each of the three branches be jealous of its turf. Congress can try to legislate, and await any backlash from the Third Branch. It may never come!
Point 4. Why the hell isn't President Biden pardoning Leonard Pelletier, an octogenarian who has been incarcerated for almost half century? In my opinion, this Native American was convicted for the purpose of covering up some crimes of the FBI. Keeping him in jail is unconscionable and the solution is so easy. A piece of cake, a walk in the park, a presidential pardon.
The Pardoning of Joe Biden Himself
Although the Constitution does not say "A president can pardon anyone but himself," we can be sure that the Framers did not mean to allow self-pardoning. It's just common sense. In the case of Nixon's resignation from the top job, his successor Gerald Ford immediately gave him a pardon "to heal the country from its divisions" -- or whatever. Most likely the promise of a pardon was part of the way to persuade Nixon to resign.
Donald Trump is awaiting election. (Note: The Electoral College does not meet till December 16, 2024 and there could yet be surprises.) It may be his plan to pardon Biden. For years, we have been hearing that Biden did naughties with regard to both Ukraine and China. How can we ever get the information if it all gets swept under the carpet?
It totally mocks the Constitution and the sovereignty of the people to pardon a president, if the deed in question is vital to the nation (not, say, a sex sin). Of course, "the people" should have used their main instrument, Congress, to impeach any president suspected of crime, while it was going on.
Today I sent a Freedom of Information request to the Department to ask if any pardons were issued on November 19, 2021. That was the day Vice President Kamala Harris officially became Acting President while Joe underwent a medical procedure that required anesthesia. I will let you know when I get the answer.
Another way President Biden might get pardoned would be if he resigns. Kamala would become president up until January 20, and she could do the pardoning while in office.
In general, I think pardoning is only ethical if its purpose is mercy, or to right a wrong that was done at trial (think Jahar Tsarnaev). Nevertheless, the Constitution does make it more open-ended than that.
Rah rah the Constitution. Rah rah America if the people ever decide to wake up.
-- Mary W Maxwell's website is www.ConstitutonAndTruth.com. She is presently engaged in an effort to bring to light the true son of President John F Kennedy.
