Does Hunters pardon pave the way for a self pardon? [closed]

Question

The justification for the pardon is, particularly in making it so sweeping, that it is to counter political attacks via criminal charges, both prior and potentially after the President’s term of office.

This same argument can of course be used by any future President, both for the President and for any immediate family.

Other than a Constitutional Amendment, is there anything that can be done to keep this from cycling out of control, so it doesn’t become routine for the President to issue a self-pardon and a pardon for any and all family/friends when exiting office?

Answer 1

A pardon is traditionally something the POTUS gives to someone else. It doesn't matter who that someone is, as long as it's not themselves. So while Biden's pardon of his son theoretically could be the start of outgoing Presidents pardoning their entire family/friends, it doesn't have any impact on the viability of a self-pardon.

As for whether this is likely to set off such a cycle, it seems unlikely. Previously, President Clinton pardoned his half-brother and President Trump pardoned his son-in-law, so Hunter is only the third family member in a quarter century to get a pardon (average: one every 8 years).

That said, if prosecutors specifically single out Trump's family members for prosecution of every offense they can throw at them, then that is likely to set off the cycle of mass pardonings of family that you're concerned about.

And again, none of this has any affect on whether or not self-pardons will be considered legitimate, should anyone actually issue one to themselves.

Answer 2

The justification for the pardon is, particularly in making it so sweeping, that it is to counter political attacks via criminal charges, both prior and potentially after the President’s term of office.

No.

Justifications are just not relevant.

Pardons are a prerrogative that belongs only to the POTUS. Nobody can amend or interpret them (except that the beneficiary has the option to refuse it).

As such, there is no need for the justification to be convincing, or even factually true. It could be "because I feel so". Or "because it is Tuesday". Or "because the national anthem of the USA is La Macarena." I am not sure that there is even the need for any justification.

As such, legally this pardon is the POTUS pardoning a person that is not himself, so legally it would not be more relevant than a pardon for someone who does not have any relationship with him.

Answer 3

No, that case is unrelated to self-pardoning powers and if anything Trump and the supreme court would be the precedents I'd quote for that given how extensively they have pondered that possibility and practice with regards to already existing civil and criminal cases against Trump.

Though the "tactic" of taking aim at the weakest link of the opponents family and friends in order to smear a politician without actually gathering any material against that politician itself, might pave the way for some sort of immunity of relatives of people in higher offices, which this case would be much closer to as it effectively serves as an immunity.

Though as others have stated he's not the first to do so either and doing it in hindsight while continuously saying you won't is still different from a real immunity as an immunity means that the person can bank on that immunity while in those cases whether they actually get the pardon or not is not safe.

Though with regards to the more damning "get out of jail free card", Trump's recent pardons of criminal cabinet members and is open advertisements of "Do a crime and I'll pardon it" are a much more concerning dynamic. Though pardoning criminal in your political team also isn't the first time to happen, though that extend is probably still concerning.

Answer 4

Yes. Not just for Trump but even for and by Biden himself. Any overzealous Republican prosecutor looking to make life difficult for the Biden family still has the easy ability to do so. All they would have to do is investigate other people involved with Hunter Biden. Because of the pardon, Hunter Biden no longer has the Fifth Amendment privilege from self-incrimination. Therefore prosecutors can still subpoena Hunter into the grand jury, tell him to bring every financial and personal record he has that might be relevant to their inquiry, and grill him about the activities of himself, Jim Biden, anyone else accused of influence peddling. Including President Biden himself.

The more likely scenario is that Joe Biden will just pardon other Hunter Biden associates to avoid such a mess. If, however, he concludes that will not protect him in the future, he may pardon himself along with them. There is no chance Biden will explicitly pardon himself. Rather he would give some sort of blanket pardon that includes him without explicitly mentioning himself by name.