New York, New Jersey lawmakers weigh in on President Biden's decision to pardon son Hunter
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, Manhattan (WABC) -- Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the Tri-State area are weighing in on President Joe Biden's controversial pardon of his son Hunter Biden for his tax evasion and federal gun charges.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been one of the president's fiercest defenders, but there was no ringing endorsement of President Biden's decision to pardon his son, Hunter.
"I'm not going to criticize the president for doing something that he had the right to do," Hochul said.
Arriving in Angola for a state visit on Monday, the president ignored questions from reporters.
"No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son - and that is wrong," President Biden said on Sunday night.
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to tax evasion and was convicted earlier this year for lying about his drug use when he purchased a gun. Prosecutors on Monday defended the two cases.
"In total, eleven different (federal) judges appointed by six different presidents, including his father, considered and rejected the defendant's claims, including his claims for selective and vindictive prosecution," said prosecutor Leo Wise.
Both the president and his press secretary had insisted there would be no pardon, but that was before Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race.
President-elect Donald Trump called it, "an abuse and miscarriage of justice."
New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer is defending the pardon.
"I'm always for accountability, but what I'm not for are political prosecutions," he said.
Others say Trump's criminal prosecutions, and now the pardon, will make Americans even more cynical.
"I think it speaks volumes, too, to the fact that Americans have lost faith in our justice system and that is not good," Rep. Mike Lawler said.
In the face of a seemingly downward spiral of prosecutions and pardons, Republicans and Democrats are blaming one another for "weaponizing" the justice system.
Americans would be right to ask, "Where will it end?"
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