Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.V.) said on Monday that President Joe Biden, who made headlines for pardoning his son over the weekend, should also offer a pardon for President-elect Donald Trump.
The comments from Manchin came while speaking with CNN’s Manu Raju about the president’s decision to pardon Hunter Biden, his son, who was found guilty in one gun charge case and pleaded guilty in a federal tax evasion case.
“What I would have done differently, and my recommendation as a counsel would have been, ‘Why don’t you go ahead and pardon Donald Trump for all his charges?’” Manchin said.
Despite more than a year of saying he would not issue a pardon for his son, the president flipped the script over the weekend, less than two weeks out from his first sentencing date. Biden insisted that his son’s charges only came because of political persecution.
“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 – and that is wrong,” Biden said.
“There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution,” he added. “In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”
When discussing Hunter Biden’s pardon, Manchin said he doesn’t “know of a father that [wouldn’t have] done the same thing.”
Prior to the election, Trump had floated the idea of pardoning Hunter Biden should he return to the White House. However, after Biden’s action on Sunday, he appeared to respond negatively to the decision.
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” Trump said on Truth Social, referring to the rioters from the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump has faced numerous legal battles throughout the last few years, including two federal cases surrounding his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of potentially classified documents.
The special counsel prosecuting the cases, Jack Smith, moved to dismiss both of them last month, saying the DOJ has a policy against prosecuting a sitting president. In response to Smith’s decision, Trump shared a sentiment similar to what the president said about his son’s cases.
“These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party’s fight against their Political Opponent, ME. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before.”
Biden has not shown that he would offer a pardon for Trump at this time.