WASHINGTON – Colorado Democrats criticized President Joe Biden for pardoning his son, Hunter Biden.
Hunter was convicted of three felony tax offenses. The U.S. Department of Justice said Hunter could have faced up to 17 years in federal prison. Biden pardoned Hunter on all charges committed or may have committed in the last 10 years.
In an interview Monday on CNN, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said Biden was hypocritical for the move; Biden had said for months he would not pardon his son.
“When you turn around and you say month after month after month you’re not going to pardon your son and you do pardon him, putting your personal (life) ahead of your responsibilities to the American people, it just gives the American people a sense that there’s one system for the rich and powerful and there’s another system for everyone else,” Bennet said.
U.S. Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper sympathized with Biden as a father making a hard choice for his son. However, Hickenlooper said Hunter should not be put above the law.
“Every human being has to make really impossible decisions sometimes,” Hickenlooper said in an interview with The Durango Herald at the U.S. Capitol. “But generally, I think we should go with ‘the law is the law.’ He was found guilty by the majority of his peers.”
Bennet said the DOJ should have an independent role in deciding Hunter’s case. In a written statement, Biden said the charges against his son were politically motivated and were meant to be an attack on him and his family.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on multiple occasions that Biden would not pardon Hunter. However, Biden said after “wrestling with the decision” he changed his mind this past weekend.
“He believes in the justice system, but he also believes that politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” Jean-Pierre said on Air Force One.
Bennet said that the pardon was “a gift to Donald Trump.” He thinks the pardon could set a precedent for how President-elect Donald Trump uses the power of the pardon in his coming administration. In 2020, Trump pardoned his son-in-law’s father Charles Kushner, who Trump plans to appoint to serve as U.S. ambassador to France.
The interview on CNN comes after Bennet said on X that the pardon put personal interests before political duty.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also spoke out against Biden’s decision on X. Polis said he was disappointed that Biden put his family ahead of country. He said Hunter is not above the law and the pardon sets a precedent that future presidents may follow.
“When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation. Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son,” Polis said.
Maria Tedesco is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at mtedesco@durangoherald.com.
