Congress hands Biden a huge Hunter-driven pardon wishlist
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President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter has opened the floodgates to a battery of requests from members of Congress in both parties for additional pardons.
Why it matters: Biden has received more than 10,500 pardon requests over his four years in office but has only issued 25, a historically low number even for single presidential terms, according to the Justice Department.
- Now Biden's controversial act has unleashed a wave of pleas on behalf of people convicted or accused of various crimes, including figures such as Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Zoom in: Several lawmakers have specific pardons or commutations in mind that they would like to see Biden issue.
- Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) is enlisting colleagues on behalf of Steven Donzinger, an environmental lawyer accused of using fraudulent evidence to win a lawsuit against Chevron, according to a draft letter first obtained by Axios.
- McGovern also is urging Biden in a separate letter to posthumously exonerate Ethel Rosenberg, citing "significant evidence" that she did not engage in the Soviet spying for which she was executed in 1953.
- Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has urged Biden to pardon Assange, also told Axios he also wants pardons for Snowden and drug trafficker Ross Ulbricht — seen by libertarians such as Massie as anti-government crusaders.
- Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) cited Billie Allen, a death row inmate who says he was wrongfully convicted of murder, as well as Michelle West and Ismael Lira, who are serving life sentences for drug-related offenses.
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wants a pardon for indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents.
- Several lawmakers have urged Biden to pardon President-elect Trump for his actions related to Jan. 6 and his handling of classified documents.
Zoom out: Some lawmakers want Biden to go far bigger than just a few high-profile pardons, with progressives planning a wide-ranging push for Biden to issue sweeping pardons for certain non-violent or low-level offenders.
- Progressives want pardons for "those that are elderly, those that are ill, those that are non-violent offenders, those who have been incarcerated because of cannabis convictions," said Pressley, who is leading the effort.
- "I had a lot of members stopping me in the halls today about it," she added in an interview with Axios.
- The plan was in the works even before the Hunter Biden pardon, according to Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who told Axios she "spoke to the White House right before Thanksgiving about our asks about clemency."
The intrigue: It's not just Democrats seeking categorical pardons.
- Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) told Axios that "everyone who was released under the CARES Act during COVID that hasn't reoffended should at least be granted clemency."
- Right-wing Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said Biden should pardon those convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — though Trump has already signaled plans to do just that.
Between the lines: Many progressive activists have seen Biden as woefully lacking when it comes to clemency and had been urging him to ramp up pardons in his last few weeks on the job, according to the nonprofit news outlet NOTUS.
- Biden couching his son's pardon as a response to a "miscarriage of justice" against has kicked that dynamic into overdrive.
- "I hope he can look a little wider and understand there are a lot of people who have committed crimes less serious who need a little compassion," McGovern said of Biden.
- Even House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urged Biden on Tuesday to "exercise the high level of compassion he has consistently demonstrated ... including toward his son" by pardoning "working-class Americans" who were subject to "unjustly aggressive prosecutions."
The bottom line: "I would hate see President Biden leaving office with less commutations and clemency issuances than even President Trump," Ocasio-Cortez said.
