Donald Trump on Thursday did not rule out granting a pardon to Hunter Biden if the Republican presidential nominee wins back the White House, saying, "I wouldn't take it off the books."
Trump commented during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
President Joe Biden's son is scheduled for two sentencing hearings in December, one for his conviction on felony gun charges (Dec. 4) and the other for his guilty plea on federal tax charges (Dec. 16). Trump told Hewitt the look is "very bad for our country" despite the fact that Biden has "been a bad boy."
"I wouldn't take it off the books," Trump told Hewitt. "See, unlike Joe Biden, despite what they've done to me, where they've gone after me so viciously, despite what, and Hunter's a bad boy. There's no question about it. He's been a bad boy. All you had to do is see the laptop from hell. But I happen to think it's very bad for our country."
Hunter Biden was convicted in June on charges of lying about his use of illegal narcotics while purchasing a firearm in 2018. He then pleaded guilty to all nine federal tax charges in early September, the day that jury selection was set to begin.
Before ending his bid for reelection, President Biden repeatedly said he would not pardon or commute any sentence for Hunter.
Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May. His sentencing is set for Nov. 26, three weeks after the election. Democrat nominee Kamala Harris was asked this week if she would consider pardoning Trump if she won the presidency.
"I'm not going to get into those hypotheticals," Harris told NBC News. "I'm focused on the next 14 days."
Trump also faces two federal indictments issued by Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith, one for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election results and another over the handling of presidential documents, some deemed classified, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The documents case was tossed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, but Smith is appealing the decision.
Trump told Hewitt he would fire Smith "in 2 seconds" if he wins the election but said he doesn't think he would get impeached for it.
"No, I don't think they'll impeach me if I fire Jack Smith," he said. "Jack Smith is a scoundrel. He's a very dishonest man, in my opinion, very dishonest man. And he's a mean man. [B]ut his problem is, he's so mean that he always goes too far like the raid of Mar-A-Lago."
Trump was referring to FBI agents searching his Palm Beach, Florida, estate at the outset of Smith's classified documents investigation in August 2022.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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