r/benshapiro • u/wang_li • 29d ago
Blanket pardons? Ben Shapiro Show
Back when they were debating the US Constitution there was debate about whether there should be impeachment or whether the President should be completely untouchable. Anecdotally Ben Franklin mentioned that the traditional way to remove a head of state is assassination. At which point the opposition to impeachment withdrew their objections. One wonders if these people pushing for blanket pardons have considered what options they are leaving to the American people to justly desire the rule of law. State level prosecution?
Honestly, given the general pardon that was given to Hunter Biden, I think another constitutional amendment should be that pardons must be particularized and any pardon of a generalized nature requires that the pardoned individual appears before Congress and details the complete list of crimes that they committed. Anything unmentioned is not covered regardless.
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u/Bo_Jim 28d ago
Jimmy Carter pardoned more than 200K Vietnam era draft dodgers. It would've slowed Washington to a crawl if every one of those had to testify in front of Congress.
I don't think Biden thought this through, or his lawyers didn't give him adequate advice on the subject. I think it was a spur of the moment decision he was persuaded into making over Thanksgiving dinner with his family. He pardoned his son for any federal crimes he might have committed since 2014. This covers the time he was on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, and his travels to China. The evidence available strongly suggests Hunter was peddling influence, and that his father was not only aware of it, but was benefiting from it financially. The pardon means Hunter can't be prosecuted for it. However, it also means he no longer has Fifth Amendment immunity from testifying about it. Not only can he be compelled to testify, he can be prosecuted for perjury if he lies about it.
The thing is that the evidence against Hunter for influence peddling is compelling, but probably doesn't rise to the level of "beyond a reasonable doubt". Had he not been immune to prosecution, and had he been charged, he could have simply remained silent and probably prevailed. However, because he's now immune to prosecution he must testify if called, and if anything he says contradicts the evidence then he can be charged with perjury. If he tells the truth and it implicates his father then his father can be prosecuted for corruption. In protecting his son, Biden may have thrown himself under the bus.
The Constitution imposes no conditions on the President's power to grant reprieves and pardons, and provides only one exception to that power and that is in cases of impeachment. I think the Framers thought this through pretty well. I don't see any reason to change it.