Is it likely that the DOJ would have thrown so many resources into prosecuting a perpetrator of victimless crimes who wasn’t the president’s son? Not really. Based on his use of the pardon power in his first term and his law enforcement nominees to date, wasn’t Trump already determined to use the criminal justice system for his own political benefit? Clearly, yes.
There was, therefore, a plausible rationale for the Hunter pardon. It will, however, be a disaster for the nation and the Democratic Party, because Trump and the GOP will be throwing it in our faces whenever we complain about Trump’s efforts at authoritarian government. It will provide cover for actions that threaten liberal democracy.
And so, for the record, I need to say that, while I don’t think Hunter deserved a particularly harsh sentence, I don’t support the pardon. I believe it was a profoundly selfish act that will taint Biden’s legacy forever. It will have the negative impacts of Ford’s Nixon pardon (albeit on a smaller scale) without the nobility.
I guess Biden believes his party and his country owes him one for winning in 2020 and standing down in 2024. Is he right? You decide.