by | Dec 3, 2024 | The Hill
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) is urging President Biden to issue clemency to inmates on death row, after the president
for his son over the weekend.
“Don‘t stop at Hunter Biden,” Bowman told a CNN panel on Monday. “Pardon the 40 people who are on death row right now to get them off of death row, number one.”
“Number two, pardon the 3000 people who are in federal jail for trumped up marijuana charges, pardon them as well, so they can get back to their communities and contribute to their economies,” the New York Democrat, who
during the primary election, said. “That‘s what the president should do.”
Lawmakers including Reps. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) have collectively called on Biden to continue granting clemency to groups convicted of nonviolent drug offenses.
Their push comes after the president
in October 2022 to individuals convicted of simple marijuana possession offenses. He expanded forgiveness to those charged with possession in December 2023.
“Now is the time to use your clemency authority to rectify unjust and unnecessary criminal laws passed by Congress and draconian sentences given by judges,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter last month.
“The grant of pardons and commutations and the restoration of rights will undoubtedly send a powerful message across the country in support of fundamental fairness and furthering meaningful criminal justice reform,” they added.
Biden, who
that he would stay out of his son’s legal matters, argued that his son’s cases were political. The White House
, pointing to President-elect Trump’s
in his next term.
Trump, who has
he could issue clemency to rioters charged for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, attacked Biden
.
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” the president-elect
on Truth Social. “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
by | Dec 3, 2024 | The Hill
Democratic strategist David Axelrod was critical of the way President Biden handled the
, Hunter Biden, saying it was done “poorly.”
“It was just handled poorly on top of everything,” Axelrod told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an interview Monday.
His comments came less than a day after Biden
that he would pardon his son’s three felony charges — including unlawful purchase and possession of a gun in 2018. The
has
political figures on
of the aisle and
Republicans furious, as the president has
that he would stay out of his son’s legal matters.
Axelrod suggested that Biden’s decision to
was “defensive,” in preparation for President-elect Trump’s
to the White House.
“I think part of it was defensive, worried about what they may do after he leaves office,” Axelrod said.
At the same time, the strategist was sympathetic to
.
“Everybody in America knows how much loss the Bidens have suffered I think that factors in here. He lost two children. He didn‘t want to lose one more. So I have sympathy for him,” Axelrod said.
He was referencing Biden’s baby daughter, Naomi Biden, who was killed in a car crash that also killed Biden’s first wife, Neilia Biden, in 1972. His oldest son, Beau Biden, died in 2015 from brain cancer believed to be caused by exposure to toxic chemicals during his service in the Iraq War.
Though, Axelrod questioned how the public would view the act, referencing a specific part of Biden’s statement, where he suggested that he made the decision not only as a president, but as father, as well.
“But he said I hope the American people will understand that my act as a father and a president, I think people will understand his act as a father but not as a president,” Axelrod said.
Hunter Biden, 54, was
in his federal gun case on Dec. 12 and in his tax case on Dec. 16.
Attorneys for Biden filed a
in both of his cases Sunday night, asking the judge to dismiss the indictment with prejudice. Special counsel David Weiss, however,
that he selectively prosecuted the younger Biden
, where he also objected to dismissing charges.
by | Dec 3, 2024 | The Hill
Kash Patel, President-elect Trump’s choice to
, is needed more than ever, according to veteran news anchor Bill O’Reilly.
“The FBI knew what Joe Biden did and buried it,” O’Reilly told NewsNation’s “
” while discussing Hunter Biden’s
.
“We need Kash Patel in there to blow that place up,” he added.
O’Reilly said
is nothing new in America and that if he were Biden, he would have done the same thing and
his son as well.
Patel has
and restore trust in the federal agency that he’s described as “thoroughly compromised” while facing criticism from Democrats he is not qualified for the job.
Patel
by the U.S. Senate in order to secure the role, although some Washington insiders say he will face an
in landing the job.
If confirmed, Patel would replace the FBI’s current director, Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump and whose tenure wasn’t expected to end until 2027.
NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.
