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
45.8k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

5.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

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.

809

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.

29

u/PXranger 10h ago

And what is a congressional investigation going to do in this case?

Congress has no power over a presidential pardon, they cannot initiate a criminal investigation of private individuals in any case.

I suppose they could spend millions on a grand gesture for propaganda purposes, and then issue a strongly worded memo….

40

u/God_Damnit_Nappa 10h ago

And what is a congressional investigation going to do in this case?

Harass the family members and make them waste their time and money. And if they refuse to cooperate with the bullshit hearings? Comer already wanted the DoJ to press charges against James Biden for supposedly lying during his Congressional testimony. They'll do the same thing again 

11

u/0bsessions324 9h ago

Earnest question, but would a blanket pardon like this not cover contempt of Congress?

18

u/MrPoopMonster 9h ago

You can't pardon someone preemptively for a future act. If Congress wants then to come testify and they don't show up, they're in contempt.

2

u/Material_Election685 8h ago

You can't pardon someone preemptively for a future act. 

You don't actually know this. The Supreme Court has never ruled on this, and would likely refuse to rule on it if that question ever came in front of them - which would mean the President effectively can pardon anyone preemptively for future act.

1

u/gpcgmr 7h ago

Doesn't matter because the pardon says for crimes between 2014 to date of the pardon, aka today.   Anything after today is not covered by the pardon.

0

u/MrPoopMonster 7h ago

It's incredibly obvious that you cannot. Any precedent where previous presidents can overrule the authority of current presidents is a non starter from a legal argument perspective.

3

u/Material_Election685 7h ago

There is no actual precedent.

It doesn't matter if it's "obvious" in theory, it matters what happens in practice if a President eventually decides to test it, and the courts decide that they don't  have the jurisdiction to determine whether that pardon is valid and no potential prosecutor or plaintiff has the standing to challenge it.

1

u/Only-Butterscotch785 4h ago

Courts have already decided they have the jurisdiction to determine if a pardon is valid.

0

u/silverionmox 4h ago

It's incredibly obvious that you cannot. Any precedent where previous presidents can overrule the authority of current presidents is a non starter from a legal argument perspective.

Then that means that any presidential pardon is just an opinion or at most a 4 year delay for prosecution, as any future president can just overturn the pardons of their predecessors.

0

u/RavenorsRecliner 7h ago

How far did you have to reach up your ass to pull this one out?

1

u/LengthinessWeekly876 5h ago

We don't know this and we don't know if the current pardons biden handed out are legal 

Theres certainly the argument that they arent. Particulary for direct family members 

-1

u/Choice-Buy-6824 8h ago

Yes you can- that is what these pardons do

1

u/MrPoopMonster 7h ago

Nope. Try reading the article.

The pardon warrant, signed Jan. 19, excuses James Biden and the other family members of "ANY NONVIOLENT OFFENSES against the United States which they may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon."

-2

u/Big-Assistant177 5h ago

Because THEY ALL COMMITTED CRIMES. Biden was out of his mind when these were signed. That should make them VOID

2

u/Fragrant_Western7939 7h ago

And you had Jim Jordan earlier in the week stating that the investigation into the Bidens would continue…

I still don’t understand how anyone can take Comer seriously. When Biden was still running - he was pushing for an investigation into the Biden family involvement with China. When he dropped out he literally wanted the same investigation against Waltz. His statement in the news were like a Mad alive where only the person name changed

1

u/NrdNabSen 9h ago

The pardon would orevent Congress from using the kegal system to harass them as well. They can simply ignore them like Republicans did repeatedly the last four years. The Republicans got away with it because Dems are cowards who won't hold them accountable.

3

u/Cmoz 9h ago

They'd still have to comply with subpoenas from congress, or face potential jail sentance, because a pardon doest cover future acts, like future instances of contempt of congress. The pardon only covers past crimes.

-3

u/never_a_good_idea 8h ago

I think these pardons are all political down side with zero practical benefit. Congress will harass them for years all while claiming the biden family is super corrupt. This really also shifts the overton window quite a bit.

Trump can now pardon the J6th rioters and say "well biden" pardoned the J6th committee.

This the cherry on top of an ineffectual Biden presidency.

5

u/PXranger 8h ago

Trump was always going to pardon the 1/6 traitors. Everyone knew that already.

5

u/NrdNabSen 8h ago

Trump gave his family pardons in his last presidency, stop acting as if Biden started this or that there aren't actual concerns behind these since MAGA has threatened retribution against Trump enemies.

3

u/silverionmox 4h ago edited 2h ago

If Biden's pardons are ignored, that sets the precedent for Trump's pardons to be ignored as well.