A Democratic U.S. congressman on Monday said it appears that certain people are “above the law” after President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, despite repeatedly saying he would not give his son a pass.
Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., responded to Biden’s decision to pardon Hunter on social media, blasting the president’s own words from earlier this year that “no one is above the law.”
“Let’s just say the quiet part out loud, certain Americans are indeed above the law and influence is always for sale,” Phillips wrote on X. “It’s time for the exhausted majority to condemn and confront legalized corruption.”
President Biden issued a sweeping pardon for Hunter Biden on Sunday after he had repeatedly said he would not do so. The first son had been convicted in two separate federal cases earlier this year. He pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in September, and was convicted of three felony gun charges in June after lying on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
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Phillips called out the “legalized corruption” in politics and argued that pardoning powers have been “abused” by presidents of both major political parties. (Reuters/Tom Brenner, File)
The president argued in a statement that Hunter was “singled out only because he is my son” and that there was an effort to “break Hunter” in order to “break me.”
Biden had stated on record multiple times that he would not pardon Hunter should a jury convict his son.
President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on Sunday. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Phillips, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for president, argued that perhaps both Hunter Biden and Trump may not have been charged in their respective criminal cases under different circumstances.
“Two things can be true at once: Neither Hunter Biden nor Donald Trump would have been charged with certain crimes had they not been political figures,” he wrote. “Pardoning powers have been abused by Trump and now Biden, and must be reformed.”
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The pardon has been met with widespread criticism from Republicans, some Democrats and the media.
Reporters grilled White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday, asking whether Biden and his surrogates lied to the American people. Jean-Pierre responded, “One thing the president believes is to always be truthful with the American people,” and repeatedly pointed to Biden’s own statement on the matter.
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Biden has yet to take questions from reporters on why he broke his pledge to Americans and decided to pardon the first son.
Fox News Digital’s Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
