President Joe Biden's pardon of his son Hunter was unlike anything Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., had never seen.
"The scope of this pardon is unprecedented," Harris told Newsmax's "National Report" on Thursday. "It's retroactive for more than a decade."
The president pardoned his son Sunday of a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions, reversing his promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency to benefit his family members.
Biden should have waited for Hunter's sentencing and then commuted his sentence, according to Harris.
"That probably would have been much fairer outcome because Hunter Biden broke the law," Harris said. "He admitted he broke the law. It's a gun crime. You know, the Democrats go running around about how important it is to control firearms in our society, and yet here the president's son violates a firearms law, is guilty of it.
"And it should be on his record. And the president could have just commuted the sentence. No, he took the pardon route."
The Maryland congressman also said he did not believe Biden should be issuing preemptive pardons to people who could be targeted by the incoming Trump administration.
"Historically, it's not what [pardons have] been used for," Harris said. "And this would be unprecedented. But the president already broke ground with the pardon of his own son."
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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