Pardon means Fifth Amendment problems for Hunter Biden

The pardon, announced Sunday, not only absolves Hunter of his recent legal troubles, but also grants immunity for any crimes he may have committed between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2024. The period covered by the pardon is critical Republican-led investigations into Hunter Biden’s foreign lobbying and financial dealings raise questions about the extent of the president’s involvement in his son’s business interests.

In the hours since the pardon, Republicans, along with legal experts, have stressed the importance of what the younger Biden’s pardon means for their long-running investigations, saying it opens the playing field for lawmakers to question him about almost everything he has. now pardoned for the past 11 years.

Under the Fifth Amendment, people can refuse to answer questions if their answers could incriminate them in criminal cases. However, with all criminal liability now erased by the pardon, Hunter Biden could face contempt charges if he refuses to testify before congressional panels.

“Well, that now makes it a lot easier for a GOP Senate/House to call Hunter as a witness to his and his father’s ties to Ukraine, etc. because the pardon prevents Hunter from asserting the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination”, Mark Smith, constitutional lawyer and host of the Four Box Dinner legal analysis show, wrote on X.

Smith also suggested that the pardon “sets a great precedent” for President-elect Donald Trump if he decides to issue a mass pardon to defendants who were indicted for their actions during the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol , in addition to defendants who were prosecuted for violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a law that conservatives have criticized as unfairly targeting abortion advocates who protest at abortion clinics .

In a separate article on so are congressional investigators.”

The pardon has undoubtedly raised the stakes for the president, whose son could be forced to answer questions from Republican lawmakers about his foreign business dealings, particularly those involving Ukrainian energy company Burisma and Chinese entities.

But the extent to which the president could find himself in legal jeopardy may be lessened, thanks in part to the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision regarding Trump himself. In Trump v. United Statesthe landmark case that clarified the scope of presidential immunity, the Supreme Court clarified the broad protections presidents enjoy regarding their “official acts” performed while in office.

“The Court declared that a pardon is a conclusive and exclusive presidential power, and that the President’s exercise of such a power is largely immune from criminalization, investigation, or prosecution by a subsequent administration,” a wrote Goldsmith, adding that the High Court had reached this conclusion. considering the disastrous consequences of “an executive power that cannibalizes itself, each successive president being free to pursue his predecessors.”

Therefore, “Biden is the first beneficiary of Trump against the United States” Goldsmith said.

It should be noted that Hunter Biden did not invoke the Fifth Amendment when he testified on February 28 that he did not involve his father in his overseas business dealings. Nonetheless, any failure to comply with a future investigation could lead to charges of contempt of Congress or perjury, and sufficient precedent was set for this outcome under the Biden administration after former Trump administration officials , Stephen Bannon and Peter Navarro, were imprisoned for four months. conditions for their non-compliance with the committee of January 6, now defunct.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), a key figure in the House Republican Party’s impeachment investigation of the president, wrote on X that the pardon vindicates their investigation, noting that “Democrats have said there was nothing to be done in our impeachment inquiry.”

“If that’s the case, why did Joe Biden just grant Hunter Biden a pardon for the very things we were investigating? » asked Jordan.

THE Washington Examiner contacted Jordan’s office to see if he would seek testimony from his first son during the 119th Congress, which is scheduled to begin in January 2025.

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Hunter Biden’s legal team has not commented publicly on the pardon, but it has already informed federal judges in Delaware and California that the pardons mean his cases should be dismissed “with prejudice” and adjourn “any future proceedings.” .

With Hunter Biden’s criminal cases soon to be resolved, congressional Republicans may step up their investigations into his business dealings and the extent of his father’s involvement after the next Congress is sworn in.