Biden Says ‘My Son Has Done Nothing Wrong’ The President sends an inappropriate signal to the Justice Department.
“Mr. Biden’s claims about his son’s innocence complicate the job of federal prosecutors. Such a high-profile probe is always fraught with political implications, and many Americans will assume political influence if there is no indictment. But Mr. Biden shouldn’t feed those suspicions with his public statements.”
President Biden says he doesn’t interfere with the Justice Department’s prosecutorial decisions, but influence can take many forms. One is to send a public signal in an interview that Attorney General Merrick Garland will hear.
That’s what Mr. Biden did Friday when asked in a rare interview about the probe into his son Hunter’s misadventures. “My son has done nothing wrong,” the President said on MSNBC. “I trust him. I have faith in him, and it impacts my Presidency by making me feel proud of him.”
That’s a highly inappropriate message from a President. He’s essentially telling prosecutors that they are wrong to bring an indictment because Hunter is innocent of any criminal behavior. Some might think it’s only natural for a father to defend the son he loves, but the Justice Department is part of the executive branch that he runs. Mr. Garland and his prosecutors work for the President.
It’s true that other Presidents have crossed this line. Donald Trump made numerous comments about the innocence of his political allies and, worse, the need to indict his enemies. In July 2017, he attacked then Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying he “has taken a very weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes.”
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized the comments. “Prosecutorial decisions should be based on applying facts to the law without hint of political motivation,” he said. “To do otherwise is to run away from the long-standing American tradition of separating the law from politics regardless of party.”
These columns noted at the time that “Mr. Trump’s suggestion that his Attorney General prosecute his defeated opponent is the kind of crude political retribution one expects in Erdogan’s Turkey or Duterte’s Philippines.”
Mr. Biden ran for the White House claiming he was better than Mr. Trump on these political norms. Apparently not. Yet Democrats and the media have also been mostly silent about Mr. Biden’s remarks about his son. Double standard?
All of this is especially relevant now as the press is reporting that Hunter Biden’s lawyers recently met with prosecutors. Hunter has hired a new lawyer, the prominent white-collar defense attorney Abbe Lowell, and Axios reports that Hunter may establish a legal defense fund. This suggests that Hunter may be preparing for a possible indictment related to his business dealings, among other things.
Mr. Biden’s claims about his son’s innocence complicate the job of federal prosecutors. Such a high-profile probe is always fraught with political implications, and many Americans will assume political influence if there is no indictment. But Mr. Biden shouldn’t feed those suspicions with his public statements.
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