In short:

Outgoing US President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter Biden, saying “raw politics … led to a miscarriage of justice”.

Hunter Biden was convicted of gun charges and tax evasion and was facing sentencing hearings scheduled for mid-December.

Joe Biden said he made the decision over the weekend while spending the Thanksgiving holiday with his family.

  • eureka@aussie.zoneM
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    25 days ago

    If Trump hadn’t won the election, I would disapprove of this action.

    If this was using presidential dictatorship to pardon someone actually meaningful or forcing through progressive legislation, I would say it’s fine, but this is just run-of-the-mill corruption as far as I can tell (but I don’t follow this celebrity drama closely so maybe there’s more to it).

    The only silver lining I see is that it proves Biden is willing to use their presidential powers, and we get to see their true colours once more in how they choose to and choose not to use them. If they don’t use this powers to try and stop Republican terror, then we know they’re complicit.

    • Scary le Poo@beehaw.org
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      25 days ago

      The pardon was because the Republicans undid his plea deal that the department of justice had agreed to. THAT was corruption. Political opponents should not be able to break up an already done pleas deal. The plea deal was fair and Biden said as much, but when Republicans broke up the deal, that’s when he decided to issue the pardon.

      You really should read more than the headline.

      • eureka@aussie.zoneM
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        24 days ago

        You really should read more than the headline.

        You’re right, and often I do, but I just don’t see the point in putting that effort into the US political spectacle. Thanks for the details.