Victor Davis Hanson: Pardons being lined up for whole Biden family
Since Biden’s announcement on Dec. 1 that he would pardon his son Hunter Biden of his criminal charges, the president has faced pushback over the decision, after adamantly telling the press he would not do so. On “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” Hanson said he believes Biden has been pardoning people based on what benefits the family and what provokes public outrage.
“It works like this. He just said, ‘I’m going to pardon people, and I have two criteria for pardoning them. Whatever they can do for the Biden family or the larger friend and associate of the Biden consortium, I’ll do it,” Hanson said. “And whatever makes people angry, because I’m going to be a puny little Samson that’s going to pull down the temple when I go out. Give me as much chaos and nihilism as I can. Make it symbolic and the more egregious the pardon, the better.’”
“Wait till we get to the last 48 hours, Jack. I expect Ashley Biden, I expect Jim Biden, all of them get pardons. They all get pardons,” Hanson added. “They know they’re going to get pardons, because if they don’t get pardons, when you write a check and you say repayment, $250,000, somebody in an honest DOJ, if the statute of limitations is not over, is going to say, ‘Wait a minute, you transferred $250,000 to your brother? Did you pay gift tax on it? Did you pay income tax? Where did you get the money?’”
In March 2024, South Florida investigators revealed that, as part of a criminal probe, they examined transactions linked to Jim Biden, one of Biden’s brothers.
The investigation focused on a business deal and loans involving Americore, a failed healthcare company where Jim Biden worked as a consultant. In 2018, Americore paid Jim Biden an estimated $600,000, labeled as work compensation and loan arrangements. Investigators, however, believe that either Jim Biden or his wife transferred $200,000 to Joe Biden on the same day one of the Americore payments was made to Jim Biden in 2018, according to Politico.
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Hanson then listed questions the Department of Justice could potentially ask Jim Biden, before saying that anyone connected to the president who could reveal alleged criminal activity might be next in line for a pardon.
“‘Can you show me the loan document where he loaned you the $250,000? Did he charge interest? If he didn’t charge interest, it was a gift. Did he pay gift tax on it?’ So they’re going to ask a lot of questions,” Hanson said.
“So I think they’re going to give him one of these unusual, historically rare pardons that they’re going to pardon all the Bidens for anything they may have done from 2014 when he got on his plane and sold stuff, to their foreign interest [and] until the present. Anything that’s uncovered,” Hanson said. “That’s his attitude.”
Although Hunter Biden was pardoned for charges related to knowingly possessing a gun while addicted to drugs and making false statements on a purchase document, he was also found to have received thousands in wire transfers from Chinese business associates.
In September 2023, the House Oversight Committee revealed that Hunter Biden was paid $10,000 by Chinese business associate Wang Xin on July 26, 2019, and $250,000 by Jonathan Li on Aug. 2, 2019, with President Biden’s Delaware home address listed as the beneficiary for both wires. In May 2024, documents from the House Ways and Means Committee appeared to show Hunter Biden had allegedly lied to Congress on multiple occasions under oath during his testimony.
While it is unclear if Biden plans to pardon anyone else, the president granted clemency on Dec. 12 to nearly 1,500 inmates placed in home confinement. He also pardoned 39 convicted criminals.
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