As the Biden Administration enters it’s winding, final days amidst the winds of change from the Trump transition, President John Pudner returned once again to the airwaves to discuss what could be President Biden’s final notable action – one that will likely be written in the history books as reflective of his short-lived tenure – the highly-controversial, total, and blanket pardoning of his son, Hunter Biden.
In a sweeping decision to proactively move against any potential investigations by the incoming Trump Administration, President Biden issued a full and unconditional pardon for any and all offenses Hunter, “has committed or may have committed or taken part in from January 1, 2014 through December 1,2024”, explicitly including investigations under Special Counsel David Weiss. Following this, Biden issued a rebuke of his Dept. of Justice and its conduct in Hunter’s case, stating he believes, “raw politics have infected this process and led to a miscarriage of justice” – sentiments echoed by President Trump throughout the barrage of indictments filed against him in recent years, sentiments President Biden has sharply criticized numerous times, even dedicating a nationally televised address to do so, and from which he made a central point of his re-election efforts.
Both Pudner and former South Carolina Lt. Governor Ken Ard not only analyze a range of subjects on this, from how the pardon showcases a growing disconnect between Democrats and most voters on which party stands more for the impartial administration of the law, to the wide-ranging implications of this and other potential potential Biden pardons, to Special Counsel David Weiss’ role going forward on this case, but both notably cover the most important point on this case – how a key component of the Biden Administration’s legacy will be the withering way of trust in the Justice system, analyzing the negative implications of that legacy and what steps will the incoming Trump Administration need to take to restore trust in our nation’s most important legal institutions.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Biden, Hunter, Special Counsel, pardon, Fifth Amendment, corruption, motivation, faith in institutions
SPEAKERS
Ken Ard and WIFFC President John Pudner
Ken Ard: 00:00
We have with us John Pudner. John, good morning. How are you?
John Pudner: 00:03
Morning, thanks for having me!
Ken Ard: 00:05
So, some of these things I understand with a degree of clarity, and some are very confusing. We’ve got Special Counsels, pardons, appeals, motions to dismiss. Can you update us on where we stand with David Weiss and this Special Counsel asking a judge to not dismiss a charge?
John Pudner: 00:24
Well, the thing that’s settled is that Hunter has avoided going to prison. A judge in California recently said that, even after Weiss’s comments that Biden can pardon, but history can’t be rewritten, and that these are indictments. They were so caught up on trying to get the word “convict” in front of Trump with these, what I consider, ridiculous New York charges, and now, they’re so caught up in whether or not they can legally say Hunter wasn’t indicted or wipe that clean. But, the history and the coverage are accomplishing the opposite. The facts about what Hunter has done are becoming more well-known.
Ken Ard: 01:10
Andy McCarthy, in the National Review, goes into great detail about what could happen if the Trump Administration pursues. He says that Hunter doesn’t have a viable Fifth Amendment privilege. As a strategist, would you encourage that or not?
John Pudner: 01:30
I would, I think McCarthy is right on. The Fifth Amendment is meant to protect you from self-incrimination, but Hunter has essentially received a blank check for his crimes and doesn’t have to face any consequences. Now, let’s dig into who else was involved in this, including links to President Biden and all the other players here. I think Hunter is more compelled now to testify under oath and could not have an out on this, so this could potentially bring more people into the investigation, including those who are corrupt. I think it would be an excellent strategy.
Ken Ard: 02:10
If the Biden Administration, or Biden himself, grants more pardons to people that we think are complicit in shenanigans, surely that means they believe Trump will re-engage?
John Pudner: 02:25
Yes, and you can point out the same thing McCarthy said, which is that every time clemency is granted, you could call that person in, and they wouldn’t be able to take the Fifth either. That could create a problem there. If Biden’s goal is to keep people out of prison, he could achieve that in his final days in office, but I think it will actually have the opposite effect on how the scandal is viewed historically. The contrast between this and the prosecutors running at Trump, saying “show me Trump and I’ll find a crime,” is similar to what Stalin’s number two said, and the contrast between this and the other side getting a blank check, is something that will be for the history books.
Ken Ard: 03:12
Can I ask you to wax philosophically for a second? It seems to me that both Democrats and Republicans are arguing that the DOJ is corrupted by political motivations. Biden is saying his son didn’t get a fair shake because he’s high-profile and the president’s son, while Trump says the same things about being targeted, along with the people around him. How do we repair that? How does America get back to a point where we trust that justice is applied equally and impartially? How do we repair that?
John Pudner: 03:47
What we do, and it’s laughable on Biden’s side, since its his Justice Department is now viewed as corrupt. Maybe you could make the argument if this had all happened during Trump’s term and Biden had taken office in 2020, that it was the work of Trump’s appointees, but this is Biden’s Justice Department. You’re right about the bigger issue. I’m old enough to remember when the FBI TV show was popular, and those were the people we revered—the best law enforcement professionals in the world keeping us safe – and to lose that trust, starting with the Russian hoax…it’s been almost a decade of doubt, and that’s why people like Kash Patel are pushing to clean the system out. We need to restore faith in these institutions, but they haven’t earned that faith in the last several years.
Ken Ard: 04:42
Well said. Thank you, John, appreciate your time.
