WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed Monday that President Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden of tax and gun crimes because “war politics” prompted Hunter’s prosecution — while insisting the Justice Department is not broadly politically biased, as President-elect Donald Trump claims.
Jean-Pierre used the term “war politics” three times as she fielded fiery questions aboard Air Force One from journalists as Biden, 82, flew to Angola for an official visit hours after the pardon, which Biden said was necessary because his son was being “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”
“Karine, when the president says that the justice system is infected with politics, how deep is the rot and how much of the blame does the president take on himself for the fact that his own Justice Department, his appointees, have allowed it to get this bad?” a reporter asked.
Jean-Pierre claimed that Biden “believes in the Justice Department.”
“He just said it’s infected with politics!” the journalist exclaimed.
“So how deep is the rot? How many selective prosecutions are there at the DOJ?” the journalist pressed.
“What I can speak to is this particular case, which is Hunter Biden, who has the last name of the president,” she said. “There were political opponents who were very clear and very vocal about going after his son.”
Later Monday, first lady Jill Biden declined to weigh in on the purported politicization when responding to a shouted question about the pardon at a White House Christmas party.
“Of course, I support the pardon of my son,” she told a reporter.
On Monday, US District Judge Maryellen Noreika indicated she intends to accept the president’s pardon related to the firearm charges that were adjudicated in Delaware.
“Upon docketing of the pardon, the Court intends to terminate the proceedings against Defendant,” a court filing said.
Meanwhile, special counsel David Weiss and his team hit back at suggestions that the Biden scion had been “treated differently” and that the verdict against him was a “miscarriage of justice.”
“Of note, the defendant argued that the indictment was a product of vindictive and selective prosecution. The Court rejected that claim finding that ‘[a]s the Court stated at the hearing, Defendant filed his motion without any evidence,’” the filing said.
“And there was none and never has been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in this case,” the filing added. “To the extent that Defendant’s claim that he is being selectively prosecuted rests solely on him being the son of the sitting President, that claim is belied by the facts.”
They also noted that it is the president’s own appointees who run the Justice Department — and quibbled over the defense team’s failure to post a copy of the president’s pardon, which Hunter Biden’s lawyers did shortly thereafter.
Hunter initially agreed to a probation-only plea deal last June — after IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler turned up the heat on DOJ leadership by alleging preferential treatment to shield the first family.
Attorneys for people accused of similar crimes derided that plea deal as a slap on the wrist, pointing to prison time given to their clients — and Hunter ultimately walked away from the deal when prosecutors balked at his courtroom demand last July for broad immunity for past conduct.
After charges were refiled, a Delaware jury in June convicted Hunter Biden of three gun felonies and the first son pleaded guilty to bilking the government of $1.4 million in taxes from foreign relationships in which Joe Biden was involved. He was awaiting sentencing in both cases.
Jean-Pierre did not note that charges were brought by a Justice Department controlled by his own appointees, including Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“The president took action because of how politically infected these cases were,” Jean-Pierre told incredulous members of the press pool.
“Hunter was singled out and because his last name was Biden, because he was the president’s son, that’s what we saw,” she said.
A different reporter pressed: “The system doesn’t get corrupted by politics for people whose name is not Biden?”
“You’re twisting and misrepresenting what I’m saying. I’m talking about a particular issue right now,” Jean-Pierre said.
At one point, a journalist asked, “Does the president believe now and agree with President-elect Trump that the justice system has been weaponized for political purposes and that it needs root and branch reform?”
“No. Read the president’s statement. Seriously, read the president’s statement. He said he believes in the Department of Justice. He does. He says it in his statement. He also believes that war politics infected the process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” she said.
In at-times-tense exchanges, Jean-Pierre said Biden is not seeking the resignation of Garland, despite his leadership of the department during what Biden described as a political prosecution.
Before issuing the pardon, both Biden and Jean-Pierre repeatedly claimed there would be no clemency for the first son — arguing that it was important to respect the legal system and bashing Trump for alleging that four criminal cases brought against him were motivated by politics.
Jean-Pierre said that Biden simply changed his mind over Thanksgiving.
“Hunter Biden was singled out because his dad is the president, that’s what we’re talking about here, and that’s what we have been seeing for the past several years,” Jean-Pierre claimed on Air Force One.
Journalists peppered Biden’s top spokesperson on the apparent double standard benefitting Hunter Biden over ordinary Americans.
“The next round of pardons could come for those who are waiting and have been waiting for some time and aren’t Hunter Biden. How soon could we expect to see this?” one reporter asked.
“You can expect more announcements to come,” she deflected.
“The United States has more people in prison than any country on Earth. Some are facing a death penalty that the president himself said he would get rid of and has not gotten rid of. Can we expect that other people who are in prison, whose clemency petitions are sitting at the White House, are going to have their cases see the same care and attention that the president gave his own son?” another stated.
“The judge said it wasn’t political pressure,” yet another pressed. “So the president, in his statement, is he not undermining the judge and the judicial system that he promised would be independent?”
Jean-Pierre did not directly answer.
Clemency advocates expressed outrage over the pardon — which comes as Biden has failed to fulfill his campaign-trail pledge to release from prison the estimated more than 2,000 federal marijuana inmates.
“With only two months left in office, the president has yet to fulfill his promise to free people still incarcerated for marijuana offenses, many of whom are people of color without the privilege and connections Hunter enjoys,” Mission Green founder Weldon Angelos told The Post.
“Shockingly, Biden has now pardoned more turkeys than people who are locked up for marijuana offenses — making his inaction on this critical issue even more appalling… It’s likely these individuals will have to wait for the next president to deliver justice.”
Even leading Democrats tore into Biden for the pardon.
Mark Penn, a former adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, tweeted: “Disgraceful Pardon. This was not a pardon of just Hunter Biden but of Joe Biden himself as his son ran a scheme with Joe’s brother to shakedown adversaries of over $20 million and then didn’t even pay taxes on it. And the loot was distributed even to grand children. And this is yet another of the many issues the American public was shamefully gaslighted over.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was the first Democrat to denounce the move on Sunday night.
“While as a father I certainly understand President @JoeBiden’s natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country,” Polis tweeted.
“This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation. When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation. Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.”
Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) contradicted Biden’s claim in his pardon statement that his son had been the victim of “selective prosecution.”
“I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong,” Stanton tweeted.
“This wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”
Johns Hopkins political science professor Daniel Schlozman wrote: “For eight years, Democrats, in their institutionalist defense of democracy, have claimed to oppose special favors for the Dear Leader’s family and retinue. This pardon is a bad move and rank hypocrisy.”
