Subject: Re: Biden/s Sttatement on the Pardon
The historical independence of the DOJ is from the President, not from politics. The DOJ is affected by political pressure all the time. Congressional committees refer matters to the DOJ, and then apply pressure to have those matters investigated further and prosecuted. The President sets various political priorities for the DOJ through his AG, then applies pressure to see those priorities implemented.

You realize that your last sentence contradicts the first one, though.

DOJ is supposed to be just as independent from politics as the President when it comes to individual charging decisions. Both the President and Congress can properly try to have their law enforcement priorities implemented. If the President wants more action on fighting opioid trafficking, or Congress wants more enforcement resources against money laundering (or what have you) - it's fair game. But neither Congress nor the President should be putting their thumb on whether to prosecute specific individuals, which decision is supposed to be made through the exercise of independent prosecutorial factors.

I agree the DoJ did their job. I agree that Biden didn't use his position as President to try to stop them from doing their job.

But Hunter didn't deserve a pardon. From Jeffrey Toobin:

The fact remains that Hunter Biden stood convicted of 12 felonies — and he was, in fact, guilty of all of them. Prosecutors played hardball with the younger Mr. Biden, which is something that prosecutors sometimes, even often, do. But those other guilty defendants didn’t have the president of the United States to bail them out. Mr. Biden’s love for his son, as well as his anger about the way he was treated, was understandable, but the president’s consummate act of nepotism has stained the record of the Biden presidency.

https://archive.is/ixSo7#selec...

I also feel that Biden acted unconscionably in asserting that the DoJ's decision to charge Hunter was in any way inappropriate. If Biden wanted to pardon Hunter because he wanted to help his son, then he can do that. It's the wrong choice, but it's an understandable one - the very essence of why we don't allow judges to sit on trials involving their family members. But for the Administration to say that DoJ's choice to bring charges was "infected" by politics? No.