Politics
Our political journalists are based in the Maine State House and have deep source networks across the partisan spectrum in communities all over the state. Their coverage aims to cut through major debates and probe how officials make decisions. Read more Politics coverage here.
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, said President Joe Biden’s decision Sunday to pardon his son Hunter may set “an unfortunate precedent that undermines trust” in the presidency, while other members of Maine’s congressional delegation have remained quiet on the matter.
The president previously said he would not pardon his son or commute his sentence after Hunter Biden received felony convictions in Delaware and California related to him buying a gun in 2018 but lying on a federal form about his drug use and failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. However, the elder Biden said Sunday night he would pardon his son weeks before his sentencing on the gun and tax charges, and less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said in a statement. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son.”
Biden’s sweeping pardon also covers any other offenses his son may have committed since 2014.
Golden, who voted against Biden policies more than any other House Democrat in 2023, said the “unilateral and near-unlimited nature of the pardon makes it one of the most potent powers held by the president, but with great power comes great responsibility.”
“As a father, I understand the desire to do everything you can to help and protect your children, but I worry such a sweeping pardon for a close family member sets an unfortunate precedent that undermines trust in the office of the president,” Golden said in a statement Monday.
Golden narrowly won a fourth term last month in a nationally watched race against state Rep. Austin Theriault, R-Fort Kent, but the state on Monday started a recount of the results.
Help us raise $100,000 to fund trusted journalism for your community. Make a tax-deductible donation now.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who said last year that Hunter Biden’s cases deserved “the same kind of in-depth investigation” as Trump’s criminal cases, did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment, nor did U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, Golden’s more progressive colleague from Maine’s 1st District.
U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, had no comment Monday, according to spokesperson Matthew Felling.
Hunter Biden’s tax charges carry up to 17 years behind bars and the gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines were expected to call for far less time while Hunter Biden could have avoided prison time entirely.
Trump, the first former president convicted of a felony for a hush money case, has faced a range of criminal indictments that will go away by way of him returning to the White House. During the final weeks of his first term, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Trump and other Republicans have long highlighted Hunter Biden’s legal troubles and past struggles with drug addiction to criticize the president and condemned the pardon.
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” Trump asked in a social media post Sunday, referring to those convicted in the violent Jan. 6, 2021 riot in which a pro-Trump mob breached the U.S. Capitol.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
