President Joe Biden, right, stands next to his son Hunter Biden, left, after watching the Independence Day fireworks display from the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 4. (Mandel Ngan – AFP / Getty Images)
By Randy DeSoto December 2, 2024 at 4:27pm
One of the defenses that leftists in the media have offered for President Joe Biden’s decision to issue a blanket pardon for his son Hunter Biden is to point to Donald Trump’s pardon of Charles Kushner in 2020.
Kushner is the father of Jared Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump.
But there is one main difference: Charles Kushner had already served time in prison and paid all the penalties associated with his crime.
USA Today reported that Kushner, a real estate developer, was convicted of filing “false tax returns, retaliating against a cooperating witness, and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission in 2005.”
He was released in 2006 after serving 14 months of his two-year sentence.
Trump explained his decision to pardon Kushner based on the businessman’s “record of reform and charity” since. The effect of the pardon was simply to clear the crime from Kushner’s record. The president-elect nominated Kushner to be ambassador to France on Saturday.
Biden’s pardon of Hunter has a much greater impact than Kusher’s. Hunter Biden was set to be sentenced later this month and faced up to 17 years in prison for his tax crimes alone.
Democrats and their liberal media allies keep pointing out that Donald Trump had pardoned his son-in-law’s father in 2020 to excuse President Biden’s unprecedented move.
They are being dishonest.
Charles Kushner pleaded guilty to tax evasion and other federal crimes in 2005. He… pic.twitter.com/be0FgXZdds
— Andy Ngo 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) December 2, 2024
Should President Biden have issued a pardon for Hunter?
Biden’s issue of clemency covered the period from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024, which includes Hunter Biden’s jury-trial convictions in June for lying on a federal form about his drug use when he purchased a handgun and in September for nine charges related to failure to pay his taxes, tax evasion and filing a false returns from 2016 through 2019 amounting to at least $1.4 million in taxes owed.
Another crime that the Justice Department could have charged Hunter with was a failure to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, given his extensive work representing the interests of entities in countries like Ukraine and China.
It’s worth pointing out that Hunter Biden took his reported $1 million a year position on the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma board while his father was vice president and in charge of overseeing U.S. policy toward Kyiv.
It all reeks of corruption, not only for Hunter Biden, but also for the “big guy,” Joe Biden, himself. By pardoning Hunter, the president is also likely covering up his own potential criminal liability.
So now Hunter Biden, unlike Kushner, will be serving no time, despite far more serious criminal wrongdoing.
That did not stop the left-leaning news outlet Axios from comparing Biden’s pardon of Hunter Biden to Trump’s of Kushner.
Joe Biden is far from the only president to have issued a pardon for a family member or close ally.
— Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner at the end of his first term.
— Bill Clinton issued a presidential pardon for his half-brother Roger Clinton. https://t.co/jSVpCPxR5u
— Axios (@axios) December 2, 2024
Axios at least noted that Kushner served time in prison, but failed to point out that Biden’s pardon of Hunter means the first son will not.
“The View’s” Trump-hating co-host Sunny Hostin also offered the example of the Kushner pardon while defending Biden’s move.
Fmr fed prosecutor Sunny Hostin cheers the pardon because she has family members with drug-related felonies and “we have a convicted felon in the White House.”
She calls those outraged “hypocritical.”
She also says Hunter shouldn’t be charged b/c only .09% of US population does. pic.twitter.com/qmknXayQKj— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) December 2, 2024
“Now … we have a convicted felon in the White House. Those questions [regarding pardons] should not be asked of anyone, anytime, anywhere. That is the bottom line,” she said.
“[Trump’s] nominating Charles Kushner, whom he pardoned … as the ambassador to France,” Hostin added. “Do you know what a nice, cushy job that is, that any felon would like?”
Enough with the Charles Kushner-Hunter Biden pardon comparison: It just doesn’t hold water. One paid his debt to society, and the other has not.
Randy DeSoto has written more than 3,000 articles for The Western Journal since he began with the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book “We Hold These Truths” and screenwriter of the political documentary “I Want Your Money.”
Birthplace
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated dean’s list from West Point
Education
United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law
Books Written
We Hold These Truths
Professional Memberships
Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Entertainment, Faith
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