The Hunter Biden Pardon Is An Abuse of Power

The Office of the President should never be used for personal gain.

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Sorry, occupational hazard: This is not legal advice, nor can I give you legal advice. I AM NOT YOUR LAWYER. Sorry! Everything here is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Nothing here should be construed to form an attorney-client relationship. Also, some of the links in this post may be affiliate links, meaning, at no cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. But if you click, it really helps me make more of these videos! All non-licensed clips used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes. See Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, 276 F.Supp.3d 34 (S.D.N.Y. 2017); Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015).

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[mlggrievous]

But hey, the Supreme Court says that a president or former president can’t be held responsible for official acts as president.

[patrickfuller]

I don't like it...but the fact is that the incoming administration has been openly vocal about targeting Hunter with the nominated head of the most powerful law enforcement agency in the world openly speak on the fact that he is going to be a target.

So while, I don't like it.... I understand it.

[colleenmoore]

My problem is with the both-sides-ism of these arguments. Trump adds a metric ton of sand to the scales, and everyone shrugs. Biden adds a grain of sand to the scales, and everyone's outraged and claims the action will give the other side cover. I don't like what Biden did, but to say it gives cover to Trump is ludicrious. Trump's gonna Trump with or without Biden's actions.

[Blondewonk]

3:14 “a world where we are tallying up pardons to see who is worse, is one where we all lose” couldn’t have summed it up better if I tried.

[TheChaosDragoness]

I don't like it, but the day America decided to ignore Jared Kushner's $2 billion from the Saudis and put an insurrection-inciting convicted felon back in the White House is the day I stopped giving a shit about any "moral high ground".

[waywardmind]

It would have been an abuse of power . . . until the Supreme Court decided that a sitting president can do whatever the hell they want. This pardon is now, technically, just business as usual.

[AMVH]

I think if Harris would have won, he wouldn’t have done this. I would have never left my son in the hands of Trump’s justice department. My fear would be that something could happen to him and Trump would reward the perpetrator with a full presidential pardon.

[Skylerrose]

Here’s the thing. In a normal circumstance, I would completely agree. Part of me even does agree. But frankly, I can’t blame Biden at this point. If Harris had won, he likely wouldn’t have pardoned Hunter, but Harris didn’t win. And now Trump has control of the justice department, so I don’t blame him for not wanting his son in the hands of Trump’s justice system. And to be honest, the thing is that Trump pulls stunts like this all the damn time, and at this point no one calls him out. So do I agree with Biden, no. But do I understand that as a father he doesn’t want his son to suffer because he’s being put at the mercy of his father’s enemies, yes.

[Jollyroger]

Is it wrong? Yes. Would Biden have done it if Harris had won? No. Would Biden have done it if literally any candidate other than Trump had won? No. Would I have done it if I was Biden? Yes.

[mozsab]

In a decent world, I would agree with you. The incoming president has specifically said he’d be attacking his political enemies. I don’t blame Biden one bit trying to protect his son

[void]

Kash Patel has directly and Trump has said indirectly that they are going to go after people for vengeance. If someone says they are going to put your son in jail just because he is your son regardless of if the charge they cook up even warrants that, and is going to have the power to do so, then protecting your son is not unreasonable.

[str.]

There should be two limits:
1. No one should pardon himself or family members because there is an obvious conflict of interests.
2. Pardons should only be given for crimes someone is convicted of, not for vague "crimes he might have committed".
IMO, the latter is already basis for suing against this particular pardon.

[MattBOrange]

"You either believe in the institution, or you don't, and Biden doesn't." You said it right there. He does not believe the incoming admin will operate the systems of justice fairly and in good faith, and neither should we expect it.

[Hatecrewdethrol]

God I wish people got 1/4th as mad about each of Trump's 273 pardons as they have about Biden's single pardon

[quietwulf]

If Americans feel this strongly about pardon power, then perhaps the president shouldn’t have it in the first place. So many of the “checks and balances” appear to be based on the moral character of the individual in charge. It invites corruption. That’s why you don’t grant that temptation.

[michelcarlyle]

Doing the right thing is so hard when others are repeatedly rewarded for worse behavior.

[AutomateTheBoringStuff]

I agree with you, but also as someone else said, "Joe Biden letting his son rot to stand up for a principle that no one in America cares about would have been idiotic."

[Bokobodobo]

I'll give a shit when justice feels normal again

[madisonashton]

Thank you so much for calling out the government on both sides when they do immoral hypocritical things. It shows true integrity and a belief in something deeper than partisanship. In this age of norm break and oligarchic rule I’m glad you’re making videos

[cobaltwolfknight]

Norms are over. The Democratic Party should stop acting like norms and institutions are going to protect our rights; they are not.