In what may be the most sweeping instance of gentle parenting ever used on a 54-year old, Joe Biden cemented his legacy of corruption and failure by doing the one thing he and his administration consistently swore on all they hold dear they would never do - pardon Hunter Biden.

The news came, of course, on the Sunday of a four-day weekend, presumably thinking that most people wouldn't be focused on it, and it wouldn't turn out to be a very big deal. It is a big deal. It's legal, it's Constitutional, and remains one of the absolute powers of the presidency - the ability to issue pardons. But the political fallout? That's something entirely different. 

Ed has a great write-up of the White House continuing to deny Biden would ever consider pardoning his son at any time in the future, so sure were they that this was a non-starter. If you are a more visual person, here's my montage I put together for the Hugh Hewitt Show earlier this morning.



And as Ed rightly notes, if Biden were sincere in his reasoning for this action, the gun charge he claims was selective prosecution, all he had to do was commute the sentence. No one would have blinked. Instead, he issued an 11-year blanket pardon beginning in 2014, three months before Hunter magically found himself on the board of Burisma in Ukraine as an energy expert, up through Midnight last night, meaning half a day after the ink was dry on the pardon. Hunter had one more night to indulge in pleasures of the flesh beyond the wildest dreams of Avarice. 

But the true story is the left - regime media and elected officials, and how they are responding to the pardon. Take Andrew Weissmann, the former lead prosecutor for the feckless Special Counsel Robert Mueller's attempt at finding wrongdoing or illegalities with Donald Trump. 



Weissmann was far from the only person in regime media taking this tack on the pardon. Remember John Harwood, most recently of CNN and now a podcaster? 

people who insist Biden will pardon Hunter after specifically ruling it out are telling on themselves

they can't imagine someone acting on principle and keeping his word

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) June 13, 2024

There was a literal echo chamber on the left for months planting the flag on the character issue precisely because Biden was refusing to pardon his son. 

One of the best supercuts ever.

President Biden won't pardon Hunter because Joe Biden is a man of great character! 🤣😂pic.twitter.com/lM8aTRGrq5

— MAZE (@mazemoore) December 2, 2024

I guess moral character in a president is overrated these days. The funny thing is it's not a shocker Biden did this. Pardoning Hunter was the most predictable political action possible in this entire improbable election year. Everyone - Democrats, Republicans, Capitol police, staffers, pundits, the press, everyone knew Biden would eventually do this before leaving office. They all knew the White House was lying about their intentions. Now that it's happened, suddenly some of them are discovering their outrage? Spare me.

By the way, speaking of the character of Joe Biden, he never really had a good one in the first place. 

This is Joe Biden being sworn into the Senate.

That little boy is Hunter. He has a fractured skull and brain injuries from the car wreck.

Joe made him get dressed up for a photo op cause he thought it would be good for his career.

Hate Joe. Pity Hunter. Kid never had a chance. pic.twitter.com/AndyzQMjp3

— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) December 2, 2024

Do you remember when then-Congressman Adam Schiff told Don Lemon on CNN that a president pardoning their son would be an effort to obstruct justice? 

Adam Schiff in 2018 said pardoning a president’s son could be an effort to obstruct justicepic.twitter.com/XLn6tOnZSm

— Wendell Husebø (@WendellHusebo) December 2, 2024

Chris Cillizza of CNN is mad at Joe Biden for an entirely different reason. He's not upset that Biden pardoned Hunter. He's mad that this gives Republicans the chance to seize and pounce. 

Joe Biden's pardon of his son, Hunter, will have echoes -- backward and forward.

Backward because it taints his legacy. It will be in the 1st or 2nd paragraph of his obit.

Forward because now every single Republican will have a layup when it comes to defending Trump’s… pic.twitter.com/wLB4CwgrCF

— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) December 2, 2024

Politico was a moving target of headlines, moving from Republicans pouncing to Republicans claim Biden lies about pardon. They're hopeless at an entity in Washington, save for a couple reporters, including Olivia Beavers. Beyond that, irredeemable as a news organization. 

The Bulwark caught my eye, because as the anchor store of the Never Trump mall, I was curious to see where they'd come down on the pardon. Initially, I was encouraged. This is Sarah Longwell, the site's publisher, from last night. 

During the Trump years we watched an entire political party and its dedicated media apparatus decide that there was no bottom to what they were willing to excuse, defend, and “whatabout.” Standing against that means refusing to do the same when Joe Biden goes back on his word and…

— Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) December 2, 2024

So you're saying there's a chance...

Nope. 12 hours later, this is the story the Bulwark filed. 

It didn’t disappoint. pic.twitter.com/GFOtQPm9nR

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) December 2, 2024

Lefty pollster Nate Silver seems to be on his last nerve with this administration. 

Don't vote for any Democrat in 2028 who doesn't repudiate the pardon within 48 hours.

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) December 2, 2024

Now, for those of you who are disappointed that Hunter won't face justice, there's a fun part to all of this pardon stuff. Hunter could still be in trouble unless Joe Biden starts dishing out pardons to every associate or family member in Hunter's orbit like an old, decrepit Pez dispenser. 

Once you have received a pardon, you are golden for the period of time contained within that pardon. It ended at Midnight last night. I'm sure at some point in the future, we'll learn what the Hunter Pardon Party was like. It probably would make Diddy blush. But the pardon does not cover him for future crimes past December 1st. What would that look like? 

Let's say there's a House proceeding, or a DOJ grand jury looking into Frank Biden, or any number of Hunter's business partners in one of several international influence peddling schemes for which Hunter remains unprosecuted. He didn't act alone in any of these ventures. There were always partners. They are all subject to investigation, and Hunter Biden is now a material witness to any of those hearings, grand juries, or investigations. He can no longer plead the 5th Amendment, because he cannot be prosecuted for being party to any crime covered in that pardon. But he does have to testify. Under oath. If he refuses to testify, he's in contempt. If he lies under oath, he's committed a new crime, for which he is subject to prosecution. So many possibilities...

The best part of Hunter's Pardon is the heaping dose of shut up being doled out by folks like Scott Jennings. On CNN's early show with John Berman, Jennings didn't leave anything on the table with his analysis. 

CNN's @ScottJenningsKy with the mic drop to Karen Finney: "Stand up for yourself. You have to defend this. He's leaving office. You don't have to defend it. You don't have to die on this hill. You can say this is wrong because everybody knows that it is. It's wrong. Are you fine… pic.twitter.com/PmDKHoNCCP

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 2, 2024

My favorite punditry on the left in the wake of the Hunter pardon comes from Molly Jong-Fast. Let's run down her resume, shall we? In 2019, she was editor-at-large for the Daily Beast. By 2021, she was writing for the Atlantic. In 2022, she wrote for Vanity Fair. And this past January, she joined MSNBC as a political contributor. She gets paid to have opinions on politics. It's literally her job. Hunter's pardon? She's got nothing. 




But to give her credit, the other big story from the weekend, Kash Patel being Donald Trump's nominee to head the FBI, she at least has an opinion on that. 



She's seen firsthand what FBI going after writers looks like, although she wasn't alive at the time. 

Spectacular work, lefties. Cannot wait to see how you handle the next 49 days.