In compiling Newsmax’s freakouts over the pardon of Hunter Biden, we overlooked one. Michael Dorsewitz groused in his Dec. 4 column:
The day after President-elect Trump announced that he was nominating lawyer-investigator Kashyap “Kash” Patel to serve as the next FBI director, President Biden made a startling announcement:
After repeatedly promising he wouldn’t pardon his son Hunter, stating that “no one is above the law,” he gave Hunter the most controversial pardon in memory — a blanket pardon of all crimes that he may have committed, whether known or unknown.
The pardon covered the period from Jan. 1, 2014 (the year Hunter began serving on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, while his father was vice president) until Dec. 1, 2024 (the date of the pardon) — 10 years, 11 months.
Then it was speculation time:
Normally pardons, especially controversial pardons, are made during the president’s final days in office — or at least during a Friday night news dump prior to a long weekend.
This one was made on Sunday, the end of the long Thanksgiving weekend, suggesting that Hunter may have campaigned heavily for the pardon over the family’s turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie.
But there may be more to it than Hunter. Some have suggested, beginning with Sean Davis, CEO and co-founder of The Federalist, that Jim and Joe’s own exposure may have been the real catalyst behind the pardon.
[…]But the pardon may have created more problems than it solved.
Sure, it protects Hunter from all federal criminal charges he may have committed during a nearly 11-year period. But it also means that he can no longer claim Fifth Amendment protections if called to testify about his illegal activities during that period.
If he refuses to testify, he can be held in contempt and incarcerated until he talks.
If he testifies and lies, he can be found guilty of perjury and imprisoned.
If he truthfully testifies, he’s off the hook, but now his father Joe and his uncle Jim will likely be implicated.
Dorstewitz concluded with more speculation: “The most controversial pardon will be when Joe pardons himself in the last days of his presidency.” He has absolutely no evidence Biden will do such a thing.