
<p><em>Part </em>4a <em>of a series of commentaries on the key aspects of the Inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47<sup>th</sup> President of the United States.</em></p>



<p>Presidential pardons have always caused short lived controversies at the time they were granted. ; The one that has endured in the public consciousness – for obvious reasons &#8211;was President Ford’s pre-emptive pardon of President Nixon. ; This year, the outgoing and incoming presidents created a furor with their unprecedented pardons – granted to an unusually large number of people for very different reasons.</p>



<p>Despite the understandable claims of partisan fans, President Biden does not have much of an enduring legacy. I covered that in greater detail in a previous commentary. While he made a effort to pump life into his legacy with a series of farewell addresses, his end of office pardons collapsed his legacy like the shell of a burned out building.</p>



<p>It starred early on when Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, for any and all federal crimes he committed – or may have committed – since January 1, 2014 – three years before Trump assumed office. ; Interesting, the pardon goes back to the days when Old Joe was still Vice President. ; I found that very curious. ; That covers the time when half the Biden family were engaged in questionable international dealings that may or may not have involved Joe as the “Big Guy” who was in for 10 percent of something.</p>



<p>Biden was forced to issue the pardon early since Hunter was facing a trial on tax evasion charges. It was a case that could have cast the light on the Biden family dealings. As a reason, Biden claimed that HIS Justice Department and HIS attorney general were weaponized against his son. Worse excuse since “the dog ate the homework.”</p>



<p>Biden then pardoned more than 1500 MOSTLY low-level drug offenders. He also commuted the death sentences of virtually all death row prisoners &#8212; including Leonard Peltier, a Native American who murdered two FBI agents &#8230; Ferrone Claiborne and Terence Richardson, involved in the killing of Police Officer Allen Gibson&#8230; Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez, who killed an entire family, &#8230; and 32 others.</p>



<p>I had predicted that Biden would issue pardons for his family, but when he and Trump assembled on the dais for the inauguration, I was ready to write my <em>mea culpa</em>. </p>



<p>Suddenly MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow broke in to announce that just before the Bidens left the White House to travel to the Capitol. He issued the notorious pardons for members of the Biden family and others.</p>



<p>When the names of all those pardoned at the last minute were reported, it became apparent that even I underestimated what a sleazy hack politician Biden can be.</p>



<p>In terms of the family, Biden pardoned his brother James and his wife Sara &#8230; his sister ; Valerie and her husband John Owens &#8230; ; and his brother Francis. ; He said the pardons were not “an admission of guilt.” ; Maybe not an admission, but a strong and reasonable suspicion. A lot of that Ukrainian, Chinese and Russian money wound up in the hands of a number of Biden family members – even younger children,</p>



<p>As if that were not bad enough, Biden went on a pardoning frenzy with members, staff and witnesses of the January 6<sup>th</sup> Committee, including the notorious Liz Cheney. Also, those who played roles in the two impeachments, or were just outspoken Trump critics, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci. Again, these were pardons to folks who are not even under investigation. It does cast a shadow of suspicion over them. If it were me – and I was confident in my innocence of any crimes – I would reject the pardon to clear my name of any suspicion</p>



<p>It seems apparent that Biden is seriously worried that his family have potential legal problems. ; The rest of the record number of pardons and commutations were merely camouflage.</p>



<p>But will it work?</p>



<p>While the Biden family is free of federal indictments for any crimes they may have committed, they are not immune from investigation, ; Also, there are others involved in Hunter’s business dealing who are not covered by the pardons – including Biden, himself.</p>



<p>Even more problematic for the Biden family is that they no longer have Fifth Amendment protection. ; ; They cannot refuse to testify in any investigation. ; Hypothetically, if the Justice Department were to develop a case against Biden as the Big Guy, everyone of his pardoned family members could be subpoenaed and forced to testify – or face jail time.</p>



<p>In terms of pardons, Biden can be justifiably criticized for breaking his promise not to pardon Hunter &#8230; the political nature of many of his pardons &#8230; and the manner in which he executed them. Yes, Biden has a legacy. It is not a good one or a historically memorable one – and the pardons did not change that.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Inauguration (Part 4a): Pardons (Biden)
