WASHINGTON — GOP lawmakers soon publicly fumed President Joe Biden declared said he pardoned his son Hunter Biden.
US President-elect Donald Trump’s communications director Stephen Cheung reacted to this statement without naming the president or his son.
“The failed witch hunts against President Trump proved that the Democrat-run DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system,” Cheung said.
“This justice system must be fixed and due process restored to all Americans. President Trump will do just that as he returns to the White House with the overwhelming mandate of the American people,” he said.
A short time later, Trump himself publicly reacted to this news, addressing the prosecution of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“Does Joe’s Pardon to Hunter include J-6 Hostages who have been incarcerated for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of justice!” Trump T said aboutrut Social.
Many Republicans in Congress have long been critics Hunter Biden’s behavior quickly attacked the decision on social media, calling it an attempt to “evade responsibility” and portraying the president as a “hypocrite”.
“His FBI and DOJ raid Barron’s bedroom and Melania’s closet at Mar-a-Lago,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., X saidin reference to the federal raid on Trump’s home in Florida The classified documents claim has now been dismissed Against Trump. “Joe Biden is a liar and a hypocrite to the end.”
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., he said X Biden “will go down as one of the most corrupt presidents in American history.”
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, X said“Unfortunately, instead of coming clean of decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability.” Comer’s committee has sent criminal complaints to the Justice Department seeking charges against Hunter Biden.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he was “shocked” by the decision.
“Shocked that Pres Biden pardoned his son Hunter, he said multiple times he wouldn’t and I believed him. Shame on you” X said.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., argued that Americans may sympathize with Biden while criticizing the move.
“Most Americans can sympathize with a father’s decision to pardon his son, even if they don’t agree with it.” X said. “What they can’t forgive is that Biden repeatedly lied about this before the election.”
The most immediate reactions came mostly from Republicans, though Gov. Jared Polis, D-Colo., also weighed in to criticize Biden’s decision.
“As a father, I certainly understand President @JoeBaden’s desire to help his son by pardoning him, but I am disappointed that he has put his family before his country.” The police said in X. “This is a bad precedent that could be abused by future presidents and will unfortunately damage his reputation.”
Similarly, Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona said he thought Biden “got it wrong.”
“This was not a politically motivated prosecution,” Stanton said He said in X. “Hunter committed serious crimes and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”
In a statement explaining his decision, Biden argued that his son had been “selectively and unfairly prosecuted.”
NBC News first reported on Biden’s plans to pardon his son. He was he said plainly many times that he will not forgive him.
“No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s affairs could conclude otherwise that Hunter was singled out solely because he was my son — and that is wrong,” the president said in a statement. “Even with relentless attacks and selective harassment, efforts were made to break Hunter, five and a half years sober.”
Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced later this month on federal gun charges and federal tax evasion charges. The charges were related to two separate cases. He pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges and was convicted by a jury after a trial on gun charges.