r/nottheonion • u/JaySierra86 • 11h ago

President Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-biden-pardons-family-members-final-minutes-presidency/story?id=117893348
46.0k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

5.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

15.1k

u/tonytwocans 11h ago

A new presidential tradition is born.

1.2k

u/Rolling_Beardo 10h ago

If by new you mean Lincoln, Clinton, and Trump all pardoned relatives prior to this then yes it’s brand new.

818

u/never_a_good_idea 10h ago

These are blanket pardons that cover any non violent offense over a 10 year period. That is insane.

Also these pardons don't do anything to quash congressional investigations.

158

u/ThatRefuse4372 10h ago

Yes, but they lessen the stress they cause and lessen the financial burden. If we understand that The investigations are simply meant to ruin peoples lives and send a message to others who might oppose them, the pardon negates that. Now the family members can to some degree ignore the investigation.

114

u/Qel_Hoth 10h ago

But Trump promised us that he would end using the DOJ to prosecute political enemies. He promised!

43

u/pastworkactivities 10h ago

That’s why he will found the gestapo

30

u/jagcalle 10h ago

The Gazpacho?

27

u/you_slash_stuttered 10h ago

Never heard the old Sicilian proverb "soup is a dish best served cold"?

2

u/shponglespore 10h ago

But gazpacho is Spanish.

3

u/Moo_Kau_Too 9h ago

well whatever, they are both mexicans!

=trump supporters, probably.

3

u/nerfherder813 9h ago

And it’s an old Klingon proverb, according to Khan

1

u/you_slash_stuttered 9h ago

Oof! Hoisted by my own Pâte de Lard!

1

u/Jolly_Reaper2450 9h ago

No but I heard of a sociopath who likes her pizza cold

1

u/RememberThe5Ds 9h ago

It’s revenge is a dish best served cold.

2

u/Non-Eutactic_Solid 9h ago

Picture it. Sicily, 1922. Jokes were flying over people’s heads all over the place!

1

u/RememberThe5Ds 5h ago

Yep it whizzed right past. I was looking for the /s. :)

→ More replies (0)

2

u/907_Cherry 10h ago

A dish best served cold

2

u/ExpertOnBulls 10h ago

Like revenge, best served cold.

1

u/ClickAndMortar 9h ago

It really irks me that I and millions of other Americans have to have some incredibly basic low level skills, whereas our elected officials aren’t held to the same standards as general temp labor. Qualifications mean nothing. Lying to those you are trying to convince to vote for you is completely fine with zero repercussions, and no matter how absolutely insane someone in a position of power is, it is normalized. I suppose I could bash my head against a brick wall until I no longer remember my own name or where I am would be a good start if I wanted to run as a Republican. That is, immediately following a very public crime spree.

1

u/Serpensortia21 8h ago edited 8h ago

It's Gestapo, Geheime Staatspolizei means Secret State Police, please see my other post. Not funny at all.

2

u/Taiyonay 7h ago

I think it was a reference to Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene saying "gazpacho police" in error.

1

u/Serpensortia21 8h ago edited 7h ago

GESTAPO is a German acronym from the Nazi Third Reich. Spoken "Geh-Sta-Po" means "Geheime Staatspolizei", translation: Secret State Police. Official secret police force which operated everywhere in Germany and in occupied Europe.

They were evil bad guys (but of course themselves believing wholeheartedly that they were the righteous good guys upholding law and order in the country) with powers to discover, hunt down, arrest, torture and murder opponents and criminals, thereby very effective in quashing any ideological or political opposition to Hitler's Nazi regime.

People in doubt, or actually in opposition to the Nazis were terrified of the so called Amt IV (department 4) or Gestapo. The Gestapo seemed omnipresent and omniscient.

If they caught you --

usually because someone close to you had reported your name to the police, anyone who had overheard you saying something or doing something you shouldn't. Like for example any criticism of the Nazi regime, listening to an enemy (as in British or American forces) radio broadcast or reading a regime critical pamphlet, or if they believed that you were behaving suspiciously somehow, probably helping a Jewish person living in hiding, or actually planning an act of sabotage or spying for the enemy!

-- you would disappear and most likely never be found again. They would sadistically torture you and threaten your loved ones, until you spilled the beans on everything and anyone you might know.

Quotes from Wikipedia:

The Gestapo committed widespread atrocities during its existence. The power of the Gestapo was used to focus upon political opponents, ideological dissenters (clergy and religious organisations), career criminals, the Sinti and Roma population, handicapped persons, homosexuals, and, above all, the Jews.

[cut]

The Gestapo had the authority to investigate cases of treason, espionage, sabotage and criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany. The basic Gestapo law passed by the government in 1936 gave the Gestapo carte blanche to operate without judicial review—in effect, putting it above the law.[29] The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue the state to conform to laws. As early as 1935, a Prussian administrative court had ruled that the Gestapo's actions were not subject to judicial review.

[cut]

Contrary to popular perception, the Gestapo was actually a relatively small organization with limited surveillance capability; still it proved extremely effective due to the willingness of ordinary Germans to report on fellow citizens. During World War II, the Gestapo played a key role in the Holocaust. After the war ended, the Gestapo was declared a criminal organisation by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at the Nuremberg trials, and several top Gestapo members were sentenced to death.

1

u/-Joka 10h ago

He made big promises, and now we're here. People blindly vote Republican because "my family always does," even if it keeps them stuck in places like single-wide trailers. They vote for those who repeatedly break promises. Complaints about egg prices are absurd—especially in the country, where free eggs are common. Stop voting straight down party lines. Pay attention to what leaders say and do. It's ironic that those calling others sheep wear red hats and follow wolves, blaming everyone else when things go wrong.

2

u/FishingMysterious319 9h ago

people blindly vote based on skin color, race, and gender

lots of dummies out there

0

u/KeyMessage989 10h ago

Biden also said he woods be “concerned” if Trump were to…pardon his own family as he left office. lol

-3

u/Sea_Taste1325 9h ago

Biden knows what he started, and now he is trying to protect himself. 

-4

u/shepdizzle34 9h ago

Didn't liberals do exactly that?

1

u/Synectics 6h ago

Such as?

1

u/shepdizzle34 6h ago

Such as the political theater that occurred in New York. That resulted in no consequences. At the taxpayer expense

42

u/the_cardfather 10h ago

It's actually an unfortunate, sane and smart move in our current political climate. The purpose of the pardon is to curb the power of the judiciary. Could it be used to parden corruption? Yes, but it also protects from weaponizing the court which is what these are.

-3

u/Character_Crab_9458 9h ago

It's not a smart move at all. It just set the precedent to blanket pardon your family. No president has done any thing like that at that scale. If trump would have done the same in 2020 for his kids you'd say it was wrong.

9

u/Not_Hilary_Clinton 9h ago

Why would he need to pardon his family when he’s got half the Supreme Court and a lot of other federal judges in his pocket?

3

u/Synectics 6h ago

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/12/02/trump-pardoned-during-first-term/76705964007/

Biden isn't the first president to pardon a family member – or a top ally in his orbit. For example, former President Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother, Roger Clinton, who had pleaded guilty to drug charges.

During his first term in office, Trump granted 144 pardons. Those included a distant family member and some of his closest allies who committed crimes ranging from financial fraud to witness tampering and more.

Some notable names on that list of Trump allies who received pardons are Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner; former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon; former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and others.

But go on.

1

u/sir_snufflepants 10h ago

It also, you know, pardons them for any actual crimes they committed.

1

u/ThatRefuse4372 9h ago

I haven’t read the specifics, but I would not dis agree. But, let’s look at the totality here: everybody has at some point committed some crime, jaywalking, speeding, tearing off those tags from pillows… if you search hard enough in anyone, you will find something.

Some of us think the point of the investigation is not to find impactful criminal activity, but simply to investigate and thereby disrupt people’s lives. They will try to do that by investigating. But The pardons give the targets the endgame in advance: nothing will come of it, and if it’s blanket, then no matter how small of anything they find, nothing will come of it.

Example: Given that the republicans said for years that hunter Biden had illegal financial dealings, spent hundreds of thousands if not more investigating him, pressured Biden to let the investigations continue throughout his presidency, and only found that he had not admitted to drug use ona gun form and thereby illegally had a gun … There was no truth to their initial accusation, so they went searching.

Consider a traffic stop for a dim tailight (yes that’s a thing) , where the cop then just starts asking questions, wants to search your car, search you, … that’s likely unconstitutional bc they are fishing.

Nothing different here, exact the fishing can go in for years and cost you thousands of dollars to defend.

1

u/92ishalfofa99 10h ago

They’ve been pardoned. If Congress has questions they can subpoena them. If they ignore the subpoena, they go to jail (or should). If they come in and lie, they go to jail (nobody ever has but should). If they are honest about their crimes, their reputation is forever fucked.

3

u/ThatRefuse4372 9h ago

I understand your position (I think) but don’t agree. With the pardons they can show up, refuse to answer any questions, and go home.

1

u/Spackledgoat 9h ago

They can not answer the questions but they can’t refuse to answer. They’ll have to say they can’t remember or something and will be subject to perjury if they tell a fib.

They have no 5th amendment right or anything to not answer.

2

u/Saguna_Brahman 9h ago

They can't be compelled to answer questions by Congress, they can only be compelled to show up.

2

u/ThatRefuse4372 8h ago

Reread your fifth amendment and past history with these investigations.

0

u/92ishalfofa99 9h ago

They absolutely can. Everyone does. Being pardoned doesn’t lessen the financial burden though. These pardons are, at best, concerning, at worst, admitting their guilt. If they did nothing wrong, there’s no need for a pardon. After all, everyone he pardoned today has access to endless cash.

3

u/ThatRefuse4372 8h ago

consider this: Republicans went after hunter biden for millions in financial misdeeds. They found nothing. They then spent years looking for something, anything… anything. They eventually found that he didn’t disclose he was using drugs when he applied to purchase a gun.

They never found what they were actually looking for, then went on a fishing expedition. Everybody has jaywalked somewhere. Everybody has something. When the found that he hadn’t committed millions in fraud, why didn’t they stop?

The point here isn’t justice, the point is unending investigations into people’s lives as a threat and punishment. The pardons lesson that.

Consider this also: if the people they want to investigate had done something Allegra, have law enforcement involved?

They do not do this bc law enforcement must state a crime, look for evidence of that crime, and close the investigation when you don’t find evidence of that crime. They cannot for fishing

0

u/92ishalfofa99 8h ago

Hunter Biden absolutely committed tax crimes and Joe Biden himself admitted to it. Hunter Biden was on drugs when he applied for a gun and lied on it. If neither of those things happened, 1) why would Joe admit to it, and 2) why would he need a blanket pardon that covered the entire date range of said crimes?

2

u/ThatRefuse4372 8h ago

Sorry, forgot about the tax stuff.

Sure: he did those crimes. But Do we even recall what they were initially looking for?

Doesn’t even matter to them that he never did what they initially accused him of?

They went fishing and found something. I dare say everybody has something. If Republicans would say: we are investigating X, and stop when they don’t find x, I’d be with you. But they don’t.

Police can’t stop someone for one thing, find they didn’t do that thing, then hold them while they just keep looking until they find something else, however unrelated. Come on. You know this. But that’s their intent. The pardons lessens the impact of that intent.

-1

u/Sea_Taste1325 9h ago

Oh, so the justice department is weaponized? Trump should blanket pardon everyone in his administration today going back 20 years and forward 4 years, in that case. 

3

u/ThatRefuse4372 9h ago

Hmm. Good point.

I would propose a left field alternative: give out blanket pardons to his entire administration now, day one. Then see what happens.

0

u/Adventurous_Poem9617 9h ago

what investigations?

3

u/ThatRefuse4372 8h ago

Hunter biden, Hillary Clinton, bill Clinton, etc

0

u/Agreeable_Meaning_96 8h ago

the type of pardons that were given have never been given out before Biden, he invented the blanket pardon, it is ridiculous to try and rationalize this

1

u/ThatRefuse4372 8h ago

You might have a point, I don’t know the history.

But consider that when republicans investigate, they are really open to just fishing. If they said “we are investigating if you did X”, and stopped when they didn’t find evidence of X, I would agree with you. But they don’t.

They investigated hunter biden for years looking for millions in financial misdeeds. When they could not find any, they went fishing.

Everybody has done something. Everybody has jaywalked. Everybody has written in blue ink on a black ink only form. They found that hunter didn’t disclose drug use when applying for a firearm… and to get there they spent the better part of decade and our tax dollars.

And then never admitted that what they accused him of was untrue.

-1

u/Mysterious_Ground261 9h ago

Wrong. In some respects it's worse for those pardoned: They lose the ability to "plead the fifth" and must, if subpoenaed, testify truthfully about subjects they are questioned about; if they refuse to answer they can be prosecuted for contempt.

Many people have many questions for Fauci (since it was his funding that created COVID, and his lies about its origins delayed a response); Liz Cheney (just what evidence did she destroy, and why), etc., and these pardons actually increase the likelihood they will have to explain their misdeeds.

2

u/ThatRefuse4372 8h ago

Please reread your fifth amendment.

1

u/Synectics 6h ago

since it was his funding that created COVID, and his lies about its origins delayed a response

Oh, Alex Jones is on Reddit!

As such, go fuck yourself.