Biden pardons his son, Trump will absolve his criminal allies. America shouldn’t stand for this | Simon Jenkins

The outgoing president's abuse of the constitution opens the door to more abuse by the next one. The rules were never meant to condone crime

The hypocrisy is breathtaking. Yes, any father might do the same for a son. Yes, the boy is reformed, forgiven, on the mend. Only nasty people are out to jail him. Live and let live. Yet there is something monumental in the pardon granted by the outgoing US president, Joe Biden. Six months ago, he scored political points by denying he would pardon his son Hunter Biden. Now, with the election over, he has done so.

The easy response is: what is new? President Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor, Richard Nixon; Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother and other figures whose families had donated to the Democrats; Donald Trump pardoned his son-in-law's father and dodgy aides galore. No one doubts that, as president, Trump will pardon a number of outrageous figures - perhaps even the Capitol Hill rioters of 2021. We wait to see if this includes trying to pardon himself from various pending prosecutions (though he cannot extend these powers to cases brought at state level).

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

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