Biden Abusing His Pardon Power? Is He Really?

An OpEd by Chris Filby

“and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”
The United States of America Constitution:
Article II, Section 2, Clause 1

The statement above is not taken out of context, it is taken directly from the Constitution of the United States. It represents one of the most awesome powers of the Presidency. The President is the Chief Executive of the United States and is tasked with executing the Laws. The President by default therefore is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the United States. He is above the Attorney General and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and all other Federal law enforcement agencies. The President is a Unitary Executive, above all of the Federal Government that is the Executive Branch. The pardon power is plenary and absolute. It has been wielded wisely and in some cases wildly.

In August of 1974 President Richard Nixon became the only President to leave the Office of President by resignation. He did so to avoid what would have been certain impeachment and removal from office in a trial by the Senate. He saved the Country the pain and embarrassment of such a spectacle, one which the country had never faced. President Ford who became President by virtue of his appointment to the Office of Vice President became the first Un-elected President of the United States. He had previously been the House Minority Leader in a House of Representatives that had been held by the Democratic Party for many years. He recognized that the bitterness between the parties in Congress would not be able to heal, nor would those of the American people who had just re-elected President Nixon by a huge margin in 49 states. In his wisdom he used his power to pardon, and did so in a move that he knew would likely prevent him from attaining his election to the office he had been elevated to in his own right, and history would prove him right. President Ford issued a sweeping pardon of President Nixon which was Full and Complete for virtually anything he had done during his time as President in his previous term or the term under which he had which resigned. Many people in Congress, the Democratic Party, and the News Media were appalled. However, the President’s decision was final, and the nation moved forward, able to do exactly as he intended.

President Biden entered the office of the Presidency with a story that was told by the media and the Democratic Party stating that he received more votes than any other person ever to run for the high office. He received more votes that three Presidents in the previous century (Nixon, Reagan, and Bush 41) who had taken 49 states and even the President whom he had served eight years with as Vice-President, President Barack Obama who was the country’s first black President. He did not however have any coattails and did not carry the House of Representatives. He also did not win a majority in the United States Senate splitting the vote 50 with Vice President Kamala Harris available to break tie votes.

While President Biden was Vice President he was observed to be the last person in the room when crucial decisions were being made. He had previously served in the United States Senate for five terms including as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee. He famously presided over the confirmation hearings of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas the now longest serving member of the Supreme Court.

Then Vice President Biden was also given a foreign policy portfolio of countries to deal with as the President’s point person. Included in this portfolio was the country of Ukraine, a former part of the now defunct Soviet Union, which attained its independence and under a treaty with both the United States and the Russian Federation agreed to give up its Soviet Era Nuclear Weapons in exchange for a mutual defense pact, that would guarantee that the republic would remain free and independent of all spheres of influence. While the military portion of the pact held, the political portion failed miserably with both sides wooing the government to their side endlessly. Corruption was rabid throughout the Ukrainian government and playing both sides became something of an art. At the same time Ukraine developed a reputation as being one of the world’s largest launderer of money. So when the Ukraine energy company Barisma offered Hunter Biden, Vice-President Biden’s son a position on their Board of Directors for his “Legal Prowess” at a cool $80,000 per month, even the State Department was shocked and taken aback, so much so that they exempted Barisma from any of their social official activities due to a conflict of interest. While the new job didn’t make waves in the media the shockwave did in fact make it up the chain of command to the White House and to President Obama. He however was busy with other things like the fall out of the Arab Spring so blip that was Ukraine dropped to the bottom of his foreign policy basket.

Ukraine was not the only country in Vice President Biden’s portfolio, there was also China. Vice President Biden made it a point to take his son Hunter with him to China as a guest on Air Force 2, and when the political trip was over and Hunter was home collecting his $80,000 per month Barisma salary, he found himself involved in a hedge fund deal with some good friends that received a very large influx of cash from China shortly after his return.

These are two examples of what went on during the Vice Presidency of Joe Biden, and after his retirement from public life while his son continued to receive his Barisma salary and revenues from the Chinese invested hedge fund. The tawdry stories have been told in graphic detail many times and do not bear repeating, nor does the photo backup require reproduction. Suffice to say, Hunter led a interesting life style that netted Joe an additional grandchild and Hunter child support he had not planned on having to pay. Couple all of this with a Gun Charge and some Internal Revenue Service issues that well were apparently settled by others at least from a dollar standpoint, and you have all of the trapping for a good ole’ fashion Pardon.

While President Biden may have indicated that he had no plans to Pardon his son, he certainly had the power to do it at any time and for any reason whatever. While some might call it an abuse of power, it’s no more so than anything else that has occurred during his Presidency, probably a lot of which he has no clue has been going on, at least in detail, but is far more egregious and constitutionally troublesome than excusing his son from his forays. The President himself is guilty of impeachable offenses. Not just a few, many. His most fantastic however is his failure to take care to execute the laws with respect to the Border. Republicans in Congress could have and should have impeached him, but to no avail as there were no votes in the Senate, or not enough to expel him from office.

Democratic politicians, pundits, and the news media who are opining about President Biden’s Pardon (as if they are in any position to take the high road on anything) are an absolute joke. They all knew or should have known that this was coming. If they didn’t, well they should step up and resign for being mentally deficient. Why would it be a surprise to anyone? First, why is it a surprise that any politician broke a promise, much less the President, and second as a father, what father who had absolute authority and power would not at his age not want to see his son save, and at the same time literally save his own ass because he was right in the thick of all of it, based on the sworn testimony of at least one credible witness.

Conclusion: