A father's decision to protect his son through presidential pardon powers now threatens to backfire spectacularly against both parties involved.
According to The Western Journal, President Joe Biden's extensive pardon of his son Hunter Biden, which covers all federal crimes from 2014 to 2024, could potentially force Hunter to testify against his father and lead to legal consequences for both.
The pardon, issued at the end of Thanksgiving weekend, extends beyond Hunter's gun and tax charges, encompassing the period when he served on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. This timing has raised significant concerns about potential conflicts of interest and the extent of Joe Biden's involvement in his son's business dealings.
The breadth of Hunter Biden's pardon surpasses even the historic pardon granted to Richard Nixon by Gerald Ford following the Watergate scandal. Legal experts are now grappling with the implications of this sweeping clemency, particularly regarding Hunter's ability to invoke the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
Mike Davis, an attorney with the Article III Project, explained that pardoned individuals lose their Fifth Amendment privileges for the crimes covered by the pardon. This legal principle could compel Hunter to testify truthfully about his father's involvement in various business dealings, including those with Burisma and Chinese companies.
Multiple news organizations, including Reuters and Newsweek, have described the situation as "uncharted territory" in constitutional law. The unprecedented nature of this case has left legal scholars divided on its potential outcomes.
President Biden's previous statements about his son's legal troubles have come under renewed scrutiny. In his pardon statement, Biden defended his actions, saying:
No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong.
The president's involvement in Ukrainian politics, particularly his role in the dismissal of a prosecutor investigating Burisma, has resurfaced as a critical point of interest. Biden's videotaped comments about withholding aid to Ukraine, unless the prosecutor was fired, have gained new significance in light of the pardon.
The situation is further complicated by Hunter's documented business relationships with foreign entities, including Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and Chinese Communist Party-linked CEFC. These connections, previously dismissed as peripheral to Joe Biden's political career, may now face renewed investigation.
Legal experts point out that while the federal pardon offers broad protection, it does not shield Hunter from state-level charges or prevent him from facing consequences for refusing to testify or committing perjury. The complexity of the situation is heightened by Hunter's well-documented struggles with substance abuse during the period covered by the pardon.
Should courts determine that the pardon effectively grants immunity, Hunter's required testimony could severely damage his father's political legacy. The situation mirrors special counsel Robert Hur's investigation into Biden's classified documents case, where age and mental capacity became mitigating factors in prosecution decisions.
Political analysts suggest that even if criminal charges don't materialize, forced testimony could definitively expose the extent of the Biden family's business entanglements and challenge the narrative of presidential non-involvement that has been maintained for years.
President Joe Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter has created an unprecedented legal situation that could have far-reaching consequences for both men. The extensive pardon, covering a decade of potential federal crimes, may inadvertently force Hunter to testify about his father's involvement in various international business dealings.
