Hunter Biden: Could He Soon Be Pardoned?

Could Joe Biden pardon his son, Hunter Biden?

The younger Biden could someday be indicted and convicted of various alleged crimes pertaining to tax improprieties and possible lies on a federal gun application form. Official charges could be imminent, as federal investigators are likely finished with their probes into Hunter’s potential transgressions. 

While President Biden has not brought up the idea of a pardon, a Fox News contributor said May 7 that it could be a legal option for the White House.

The conservative network’s Miranda Devine was interviewed on Fox and Friends Weekend and claimed that a pardon could be part of the White House legal strategy to deal with Hunter’s situation.

Voters Will Forgive and Forget on Hunter Biden? 

“I think the end game is that he’s setting up… framing this sympathy card so that when it comes time, perhaps in his lame duck period, that he will pardon Hunter and Americans will forgive him because they will say, well, Hunter was a drug addict and Joe just loves his family, and he’s been through enough tragedy in his life,” Devine said.

Hunter’s lawyers recently met with Department of Justice prosecutors. Such a meeting typically signals that indictments could come soon.

On May 5, in an interview with MSNBC, the president said he is going to stand by his son. “I trust him. I have faith in him, and it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him,” he said.

Devine believes the White House strategy is to show that the efforts to prosecute Hunter are a political witch hunt that the American people do not care about. After all, Hunter’s plight was part of the Republicans 2020 election attacks, and his father was still able to win that election. The elder Biden hopes that the American people will forgive Hunter again should he face official charges.

Parents Can Relate to a Problematic Child  

Most people can relate to having a troubled family member. As a parent, your first inclination is to protect your offspring, even during a period of legal proceedings. The president is no different. He reckons that most people will have sympathy for Hunter, and that they will see the charges against the younger Biden are not that serious.

But the president’s approval ratings are already low, and indictments against Hunter will not help his numbers. Former President Donald Trump is facing his own legal hurdles and his supporters and even some independents are breaking toward Trump, at least for now, before the election campaign heats up. 

If Biden were to lose and enter a lame duck period in December of 2024, he would have a list of people to pardon. Presidents have that power. It is conceivable that he could pardon his son should he face jail time. But that is still speculation. Hunter deserves to be treated as innocent until proven guilty, and at this point he has not been charged with any crimes.

The political fallout would be considerable should Biden pardon Hunter, but if he already lost an election, he could withstand short-term disapproval of his action. 

It appears that the White House is prepared to ride out the storm should Hunter be indicted. However, there is another investigation by Republican congressional members into his business dealings that could further ensnare the president’s son. Hunter is running out of cash to pay his staggering legal bills, and his legal team may create a defense fund to help pay the debt. The White House could face blowback from this strategy, too. 

Thus, Hunter, whether he is innocent or guilty, will continue to drag the president down, at least in the eyes of the conservative media. He could face jail time, and that would take an emotional toll on a president who has much work to be done to overcome voters’ disapproval of his presidency. Hunter’s father hopes that a pardon will never be necessary.

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Author Expertise and Experience:

Serving as 19FortyFive’s Defense and National Security Editor, Dr. Brent M. Eastwood is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter @BMEastwood. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Foreign Policy/ International Relations.