When news broke Sunday night that U.S. President Joe Biden had signed a presidential pardon for his son Hunter, president-elect Donald Trump was quick to react.
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” he wrote on the social media platform Truth Social shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday. “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
Trump was referring to people convicted and imprisoned for their part in the U.S. Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters tried to halt the count of electoral votes that would formalize Biden’s win in the 2020 election.
‘God help us if this all starts happening in January’: A Trump-induced border crisis is coming
Trump has previously referred to those convicted in connection with the riots as “hostages,” despite pushback from justice officials who have pointed out that the convictions came about through normal legal means.
Trump has said that he would consider pardoning those convicted in the riots. Last summer he was asked during an appearance with the National Association of Black Journalists if he would pardon the Jan. 6 rioters, and he replied: “If they’re innocent, I would pardon them,” adding that he thought they had been convicted “by a very tough system.”
In October, Trump also suggested that he might pardon Hunter Biden. Asked by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt during an interview, he replied: “I wouldn’t take it off the books.”
He added that, “despite what they’ve done to me, where they’ve gone after me so viciously,” that he might consider a pardon. “I happen to think it’s very bad for our country,” he said of the conviction, adding that “I could have gotten Hillary Clinton very easily.”
Joe Biden has previously said he would not pardon Hunter, who was convicted last summer on charges of unlawfully possessing a gun as a drug user, lying on a federal form when he bought the gun, and making a false statement about information required to be collected by a federally licensed gun dealer. He was scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 12 and could have faced up to 25 years in prison.
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.