Biden goes on clemency spree, even after concerns about Hunter pardon

With a little less than a month remaining in his presidency, President Joe Biden issued a record number of pardons and commutations on Thursday.

In what The Associated Press is calling “the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history,” Biden issued 1500 commutations and 39 pardons.

The move comes after polling data shows only 2 in 10 Americans approve of Biden’s unprecedented pardon of his son Hunter for any crimes he may have committed since Jan. 1, 2014. 

Many of the criminals commutated “would receive lower sentences if charged under today’s laws, policies, and practices,” Biden said in White House press release. 

“[Joe Biden] is also the first President ever to issue categorical pardons to individuals convicted of simple use and possession of marijuana, and to former LGBTQI+ service members convicted of private conduct because of their sexual orientation,” said a fact sheet issued by the White House on the clemency actions.   

The president also hinted that more pardons will be granted before the end of his term on Jan. 20, as he continues to review clemency petitions. 

Liberals have been pushing him to grant pardons for all federal death row inmates and those with long drug sentences, notes The New York Times. 

There are currently 40 federal death row inmates, including Dylann Roof, who was convicted in the shooting deaths of nine parishioners at a church in South Carolina, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber.   

Some in the liberal media have even floated the idea that Biden should issue blanket pardons to all illegal immigrants. 

Multiple media reports confirm the White House is considering blanket pardons for people who opposed Donald Trump.  

One ally is urging the president to act quickly to grant his allies pardons over fears Trump’s Department of Justice will uncover crimes committed by the members of the federal government. 

“This is no hypothetical threat,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pennsylvania. “The time for cautious restraint is over. We must act with urgency to push back against these threats and prevent Trump from abusing his power.” 

But some critics have cautioned that preemptive pardons are themselves an abuse of power that will, at the very least, set a dangerous precedent.  

“The dangers of normalizing such behavior cannot be overstated,” wrote former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox in the Detroit Free Press. “If presidents routinely issue preemptive pardons, it’s only a matter of time before every administration shields its allies from future investigations.”