President Joe Biden’s extraordinarily broad pardon for his son may have saved Hunter from a prison sentence, but it could actually mark the beginning of a worse Legal problems for the Biden clan.
By preemptively shielding Hunter from the consequences of any alleged criminal conduct dating back eleven years, the President leaves his son open to virtually unlimited questioning in future congressional investigations, civil or even criminal.
This is because Hunter Biden can no longer claim Fifth Amendment privilege, a constitutional right that protects people from offering potentially incriminating testimony.
Since Hunter is now effectively immune from federal prosecution, he cannot plausibly claim that the testimony could constitute self-incrimination.
That makes Hunter a potential key witness for years to come.
Biden’s blanket pardon is, in fact, a gift to President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, in case she ever decides to investigate allegations that the Biden family has corruptly benefited from influence peddling. foreigners for decades.
A Republican-led House committee has estimated that the Bidens and their business partners have raised more than $27 million in foreign deals in recent years. However, not a single member of the Biden family has ever registered as a ‘foreign agent’ as required by law.
It seems like fertile ground for research.
President Joe Biden’s extraordinarily broad pardon for his son may have saved Hunter from a prison sentence, but it could actually mark the beginning of worse legal trouble for the Biden clan.
Admittedly, prosecutions of those who fail to report their work for foreign governments have been rare. But that has changed in recent years.
In July, Senator Bob Menendez was convicted, among other charges, of failing to declare himself a foreign agent of Egypt.
On the first day of the new administration, Bondi, Florida’s former attorney general, will be free to convene a grand jury and begin his investigations.
In fact, investigators are likely to have many questions for a political family that has become fabulously wealthy and operates very close to power.
Hunter may be asked what Biden knew about his son’s foreign business dealings while he was reportedly hitchhiking on Air Force Two while Joe served as Barack Obama’s vice president.
Hunter allegedly accompanied his father at least 13 times on trips to China, Egypt, Mexico and South Korea while Biden was vice president.
Another topic of interest may be what Biden said when he attended dinners and participated in phone calls with Hunter’s business partners during that period.
Or what Hunter meant when he wrote in an email to his sister, Ashley Biden, that “dad” takes “half of his salary.”
Perhaps most critically, Bondi can investigate the true identity of the infamous ‘Big Guy’, so characterized in ownership documents for Oneida Holdings, a now-dissolved firm owned by Hunter Biden, his former business partner Tony Bobulinski and others.
Bobulinski provided hearsay testimony before Congress this year that the ‘big guy’ was Joe Biden, who he claimed requested a share of Onedia Holdings’ profits.
Two IRS whistleblowers involved in a federal investigation of Hunter’s tax case also said Biden was the “big guy.”
While this pardon exempts Hunter from federal prosecution, it does not protect him from civil litigation, including possible fraud charges.
Hunter Biden can no longer claim Fifth Amendment privilege, a constitutional right that protects people from offering potentially incriminating testimony.
Another topic of interest may be what Vice President Biden said when he attended dinners and participated in phone calls with Hunter’s business partners. Or what Hunter meant when he wrote in an email to his sister, Ashley Biden (pictured between Joe and Jill), that “dad” takes “half of his salary.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James went after Trump for inflating his real estate assets and obtained a nearly $500 million civil judgment against him.
Could incoming Trump officials follow his politically minded lead?
President-elect Trump publicly expressed his sympathy for Hunter in the final days of the 2024 campaign and reportedly said so privately with President Biden at the White House after the election. This may incline his administration to be lenient toward the outgoing president’s son, but it is not a guarantee.
And if Congress subpoenas Hunter to testify against members of his family, it opens a terrible can of legal worms.
Hunter will face several options, few of which are particularly attractive.
First, his lawyers can concoct an argument that he is owed Fifth Amendment protections because the President’s pardon only protects Hunter from federal charges, leaving him vulnerable to potential state charges and therefore making him capable of incriminate yourself.
But that is a weak legal argument. The statutes of limitations on any state tax and gun charges (the only crimes investigators could likely question him about) have likely expired. There is no risk of self-incrimination here.
Second, Hunter could challenge the subpoena, although I would not recommend that course of action.
Former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon just completed a four-month sentence for refusing to appear before a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Third, Hunter could agree to testify and then lie. Of course, this is the least likely scenario and I have no reason to believe Hunter has anything to lie about.
At least hypothetically, that would also be a bad choice. Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen found this out the hard way when he was sentenced to two months in prison for committing perjury in his 2017 Senate testimony about Trump’s dealings in Russia.
President-elect Trump expressed his sympathy for Hunter in the final days of the 2024 election and reportedly in meetings with President Biden at the White House after the election.
Finally, Hunter was able to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
The consequences of this are still unclear.
The post-presidency outcome for the Biden family is tense, to say the least.
But the tragedy of it all is that this conundrum could have been avoided if President Biden had waited until Hunter was sentenced for his tax crimes this month and then commuted that sentence. A commuted defendant, rather than pardoned, retains the right to plead the Fifth.
But one thing is certain: Hunter Biden’s problems – and apparently those of his family – may be far from over.