The White House has responded to the outrage over Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter by claiming that the lame-duck president still believes “no one is above the law.”
In May, Biden declared that “no one is above the law.”
He made the statement while defending the Democrats’ legal persecution of President Donald Trump.
Amid criticism of his sweeping pardon Sunday evening for son Hunter Biden, following a yearslong legal saga revolving around two criminal cases, the White House claimed that the president still believes that “no one is above the law.”
“Yes,” a White House official told Fox News on Monday when asked if Biden still believes “no one is above the law” after pardoning his son.
“As he said in his statement, he has deep respect for our justice system.
“And as a wide range of legal experts have pointed out, this pardon is indisputably within his authority and warranted by the facts of the case.”
Biden has asserted that “No one is above the law” as recently as May 31st.
He made the reference to President Trump being convicted in his New York “hush money” case.
The comment has not aged well.
Joe Biden was Community Noted. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/21ZsCZ24Zn
— Molly Pitcher (@AmericanMama86) December 2, 2024
Following his pardon of Hunter Biden from a gun case and a tax case, conservatives and others resurrected the post on social media.
Reps. Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Eli Crane (R-AZ), for example, quipped that the rule of law applies to all Americans, “Unless your last name is Biden.”
In response to the old Biden post, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) declared:
“You’ve been lied to every step of the way by this Administration and the corrupt Biden family.
“This is just the latest in their long coverup scheme.
“They never play by the same rules they force on everyone else. Disgraceful.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) posted, “This aged like fine milk.”
Biden’s May message that “no one is above the law” came as his son was preparing for his first criminal trial in Delaware.
Hunter Biden was accused of illegally purchasing a firearm.
He was also facing another trial regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.
Biden was found guilty on June 11 of lying about his drug use when purchasing a firearm in 2018.
He was found guilty on three charges: making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
Hunter Biden had an extensive and well-documented history of addiction.
His drug use was best captured in his 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things,” which walked readers through his spirals with crack cocaine use.
Hunter faced another trial regarding three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes in a California court in September.
As jury selection was about to kick off in Los Angeles federal court, Hunter entered a surprise guilty plea.
Earlier this year, President Biden had publicly pledged at least twice that he would not pardon his son over the charges.
“Yes,” President Biden told ABC News when asked if he would rule out pardoning Hunter ahead of his guilty verdict in the gun case.
Days later, following a jury finding Hunter guilty in the firearm case, the president again said he would not pardon his son.
“I am not going to do anything,” Biden said after Hunter was convicted.
“I will abide by the jury’s decision.”
WATCH:
BREAKING: President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter Biden.
The development comes after the Biden administration promised the public that he would *not* consider pardoning his own son.
Biden now says “enough is enough.”
Official statement from Biden:
Today, I signed a… pic.twitter.com/oUS790xW8g
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 2, 2024
While conservatives lambasted Biden for pardoning his son after vowing he would not take that step, some on the Left came to Biden’s defense over the pardon, including Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder.
Biden claimed in his statement announcing the pardon that the prosecution of his son was politically motivated.
“It is clear that Hunter was treated differently,” Biden wrote in his statement.
“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.
“Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the courtroom – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process.
“Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.”
“For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth,” the president added.
“They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further.
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”
READ MORE – Joe Biden Pardoned Son Hunter to Save Himself, White House Insider Reveals
