Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is looking on President Biden to difficulty extra pardons earlier than he leaves workplace, notably for nonviolent offenders.
“During his final weeks in office, President Biden should exercise the high level of compassion he has consistently demonstrated throughout his life, including toward his son, and pardon on a case-by-case basis the working-class Americans in the federal prison system whose lives have been ruined by unjustly aggressive prosecutions for nonviolent offenses,” Jeffries stated in an announcement.
“This moment calls for liberty and justice for all,” he stated.
On Sunday, Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, arguing the fees towards him have been introduced for political causes within the marketing campaign cycle.
The pardon clears Hunter Biden of fees in each of his federal circumstances. It comes after a jury discovered him responsible in June of three felony fees after he bought and possessed a gun in 2018 as a drug consumer. He additionally pleaded responsible in September to 9 federal tax fees.
President Biden’s choice to pardon his son reverberated throughout Capitol Hill. A number of Democrats slammed the president for his choice, which marks a reversal of his earlier stance on the difficulty.
The president stated in an announcement that the fees in his son’s circumstances “only came about” after political opponents in Congress “instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.”
“For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” the president stated.
Jeffries, in his assertion, highlighted President Biden’s lengthy profession and the way he has “fought to improve the plight” of Individuals.
“Many of these people have been aggressively prosecuted and harshly sentenced for nonviolent offenses, often without the benefit of adequate legal representation,” Jeffries stated. “Countless lives, families and communities have been adversely impacted, particularly in parts of Appalachia, Urban America and the Heartland.”
His assertion echoes these of others who’ve referred to as on Biden to do as a lot as he can in workplace earlier than President-elect Trump takes energy.
Jeffries didn’t particularly say whom he needs Biden to pardon, however The Hill has reached out for extra data.
