WASHINGTON — GOP lawmakers started publicly fuming shortly after President Joe Biden introduced that he was pardoning his son Hunter Biden.
Many Republicans in Congress who’ve been longtime critics of Hunter Biden’s conduct swiftly attacked Biden’s determination in social media posts, calling the transfer an effort to “keep away from accountability” and casting the president as a “hypocrite.”
“His FBI and DOJ raided Barron’s bed room and Melania’s closet at Mar-a-Lago,” stated an X put up from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., referring to the federal raid on Mar-a-Lago in connection to the now-dismissed categorised paperwork case in opposition to former President Donald Trump. “Joe Biden is a liar and a hypocrite, all the way in which to the top.”
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., stated in a put up to X that the president “will go down as one of the vital corrupt presidents in American historical past.”
“It’s unlucky that, fairly than come clear about their many years of wrongdoing, President Biden and his household proceed to do every part they will to keep away from accountability,” stated an X put up from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee, which has despatched felony referrals to the Department of Justice recommending fees in opposition to Hunter Biden.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, stated that Biden’s determination “shocked” him.
“I’m shocked Pres Biden pardoned his son Hunter bc he stated many many occasions he wouldn’t & I believed him Shame on me,” stated his X put up.
The most quick reactions to the announcement got here overwhelmingly from Republicans, although Gov. Jared Polis, D-Colo., additionally weighed in to criticize Biden’s determination.
“While as a father I definitely perceive President @JoeBiden’s pure need to assist his son by pardoning him, I’m disillusioned that he put his household forward of the nation,” Polis stated in a put up. “This is a nasty precedent that might be abused by later Presidents and can sadly tarnish his popularity.”
In Biden’s assertion explaining his determination, the elder Biden argued that his son was “being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”
Biden’s plans to pardon his son, which have been first reported by NBC News, got here after the president stated publicly a number of occasions that he wouldn’t pardon Hunter Biden.
“No affordable one who appears to be like on the details of Hunter’s instances can attain every other conclusion than Hunter was singled out solely as a result of he’s my son — and that’s incorrect,” the president stated within the assertion. “There has been an effort to interrupt Hunter — who has been 5 and a half years sober, even within the face of unrelenting assaults and selective prosecution.”