Jeffries Urges Biden to Pardon Working-Class Americans

United States: House Democrats’ new leader, Hakeem Jeffries, urges Biden to forgive some working-class citizens in America following a backlash he received for issuing a Presidential pardon to his son, Hunter Biden.

Hunter Biden’s Pardon Sparks Debate

“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 said in a statement, as reported by Reuters.

Hunter Biden’s Pardon Sparks Debate

Biden, who is set to exit office on 20th January, for several months, had been denying that he would pardon his son who was convicted for perjury on false claims, he was a drug addict and thereby committed a crime of possessing a firearm, and had also pleaded guilty for not paying $1.4 million in taxes. The sweeping pardon also covered any other offenses that “he committed or might have committed” between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024.

The President contended that his son might have been neutralized through a politically instigated persecution. Some Republicans, such as President-elect Donald Trump, condemned the action, while some Democrats claimed that the decision weakened the confidence placed in the judiciary.

“I’m deeply concerned with how we move forward,” Democratic Senator Ben Cardin told Reuters on Tuesday. “We’ve got to have confidence in an independent judiciary and I don’t think we’re where we need to be.”

Democrats Push for Broader Pardons

Jeffries’ request follows a letter signed by 60 Democratic members of Congress to Biden in the previous month urging him to ‘exercise his pardon power in order to help rectify injustice in our legal system.’

The likelihood of the population involvement in prisons was raised, pointing out that the United States has incarcerated people of color, low-income people, LGBTQ members, and people with disabilities, and 90% of the federal prisons have been convicted for non-violent offenses, as reported by Reuters.