this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2025
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What every pardon defender said will happen, did happen. Trump and the DoJ are going after everyone they can. If Biden hadn't pardoned Hunter, the J6 comitee and others, they would have been indicted too.

In retrospect, Biden did the correct thing.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-bondi-director-patel-statements-regarding-indictment-former-fbi-director

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-statements-regarding-indictment-former-national-security-advisor-john

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/new-york-state-attorney-general-indicted

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[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world -4 points 5 days ago

Was he really though? None of these prosecutions are going to stick. They're no threat to wealthy people like the Bidens. The real danger is for ordinary people. The Bidens can afford or can certainly raise donations for their legal fees against unjust prosecution. Average people however can't afford such a thing. The average person does have to fear this, as Trump can now effectively bankrupt anyone of modest means by filing frivolous charges against them. How many times can you afford to spend several hundred thousand dollars hiring attorneys to fight the Justice Department?

So really it wasn't justified. It set the terrible precedent that a president can pardon their family members. And it was done for someone who can afford an unlimited legal defense budget to fight off frivolous prosecutions. Biden could have issued broader pardons that would have protected millions of people from such prosecutions, but instead he focused only on his friends and family.