When President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on federal tax and gun charges — in contradiction to months of both he and his White House press team saying he would not interfere in the case — he offered up an explanation that he was forced to act because federal prosecutors tore up a fair plea deal to target him politically.
But CNN's Jake Tapper wasn't buy that explanation and tore it to shreds Monday afternoon.
"In his statement, Biden says, '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,'" said Tapper. "But that is not entirely what happened. That 'political pressure' was not the only factor. The plea deal collapsed in part because Hunter Biden wanted more immunity than prosecutors were offering."
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"And now it's President Biden, not his successor, President-elect Trump, who is blaming his own Department of Justice for being politicized, saying, 'I also believe raw politics has infected this process, and it led to a miscarriage of justice,'" said Tapper. "Today, special counsel David Weiss, who prosecuted Hunter Biden, pushed back on the president's justification for pardoning his son in a court filing, 'There was no, and never has been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in this case,' Weiss wrote. There are right now plenty of officials at the U.S. Justice Department furious at President Biden for blaming them for doing their jobs to uphold the law against a lawbreaker, Hunter Biden."
Tapper then read off quotes from a number of Democratic members of Congress criticizing the move, including Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), who wrote, "This was an improper use of power. It erodes trust in our government and it emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests."
"While we all can sympathize with the president, who has already lost two children under tragic circumstances, and surely most of us would help our kids in any way we possibly could, it is also true that today's act further portrays the criminal justice system as one that helps the well-connected," he added. "Prisons are full of people who have made bad choices, even broken laws, because of their addictions. It's too bad for them that they have the wrong last name."
Watch the video below or at the link here.