by Mychael Schnell
President Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter, is set to reverberate on Capitol Hill this week, as lawmakers react to the news after years of GOP investigations targeting the younger Biden’s business dealings.
The president announced “a full and unconditional pardon” for Hunter Biden on Sunday night, arguing in a lengthy statement that the charges brought against his son were fueled by politics. Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges and was found guilty of three felony gun charges. He was set to face sentencing this month.
The pardon was a sharp reversal for Biden: The president and White House press secretary in recent months had said that the president did not plan to pardon his son, reiterating that position even after President-elect Trump won the election.
The grant of clemency is set to take up much of the oxygen on Capitol Hill this week, with the Senate returning to session Monday and the House set to reconvene Tuesday. Republicans ripped Biden’s decision immediately after the announcement, labeling the president a liar and contending the pardon puts Hunter Biden above the law. Some Democrats have also criticized the president for the move.
Also this week, senators are sure to react to Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel to be director of the FBI, tapping a controversial figure to lead the agency he has sharply criticized. Additionally, the House is expected to hold a vote on releasing the Ethics Committee report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). And the House task force on the attempted assassination of Trump is slated to hold a hearing Thursday.
Hunter Biden pardon to take center stage on Capitol Hill
President Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter, rocked Washington on Sunday night, and is sure to take center stage in the Capitol this week as lawmakers return to Washington and are peppered with questions about the grant of clemency.
Biden announced the pardon Sunday night, as he prepared to depart for a multiday trip to Angola, arguing that the prosecution of Hunter Biden — which included charges related to taxes and guns — was brought for political purposes. Republicans were quick to slam the pardon.
“You’ve been lied to every step of the way by this Administration and the corrupt Biden family,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) wrote on the social platform X. “This is just the latest in their long coverup scheme. They never play by the same rules they force on everyone else. Disgraceful.”
The grant of clemency came after four years of Republicans attacking the Biden family as being criminally corrupt. In the past two years in particular, GOP lawmakers have zeroed in on Hunter Biden’s business dealings as part of their investigations. House Republicans sought to make Hunter Biden a key part of their impeachment inquiry into the president, but the report did not exhibit a smoking gun.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee — which helped lead the investigations into Hunter Biden — called the pardon “unfortunate.”
“It’s unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability,” he wrote in a statement.
Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, were largely quiet after the president announced the pardon Sunday night. Those who did speak, however, offered mixed reactions.
Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), for one, wrote on X: “I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong.”
“This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers,” he added.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), meanwhile, cheered on Biden for the pardon during an appearance on MSNBC, saying, “Way to go, Joe,” and pointing to the 34-count felony conviction of Trump.
“Let me be the first one to congratulate the president for deciding to do this, because at the end of the day, we know that we have a 34-count convicted felon that is about to walk into the White House,” said Crockett, a member of the Oversight Committee. “So for anyone that wants to clutch their pearls now, because he decided that he was going to pardon his son, I would say take a look in the mirror.”
Senate to react to Kash Patel’s nomination to lead FBI
In addition to Hunter Biden’s pardon, lawmakers this week will be reacting to Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel to serve as director of the FBI, a pick that sent shockwaves throughout Washington over the weekend.
Trump announced Saturday that he would tap Patel to head the FBI, elevating a controversial figure who has criticized the agency he is now in line to lead, and setting the stage for what will likely be a contentious Senate confirmation hearing.
Patel — a staunch Trump ally who served in his first administration — has called for mass firings at the Department of Justice and FBI, has said individuals who investigated Trump when he was a candidate in 2016 should have their security clearance stripped, and has frequently accused the “deep state” of getting in the way during Trump’s first term.
His nomination, however, also indicated Trump intends to fire sitting FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was first nominated by Trump in 2017 and is otherwise slated to continue serving until 2027.
Patel’s background, past comments and Trump’s apparent plan to fire Wray could all complicate the nominee’s path to confirmation. If Democrats unanimously oppose his confirmation — many have criticized the pick already — Republicans can only afford to lose three of their own members, and some GOP senators are taking a cautious approach.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote on X: “Kash Patel must prove to Congress he will reform &restore public trust in FBI.”
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) also stopped short of immediately endorsing Patel’s nomination, telling ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday “every president has the opportunity to decide who he wants to offer a nomination for,” adding, “we still go through a process, and that process includes advice and consent.”
He did, however, express support for Wray.
“The president picked a very good man to be the director of the FBI when he did that in his first term,” he said. “When we meet with him behind closed doors, I’ve had no objections to the way that he’s handled himself. And so I don’t have any complaints about the way that he’s done his job right now.”
Debate over Gaetz Ethics report to reenter spotlight
The debate surrounding the House Ethics Committee’s report into Gaetz will be back in the spotlight this week, with the lower chamber expected to hold a vote on releasing the highly anticipated body of work — even after the Florida Republican resigned from office and withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general.
Reps. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) moved to force votes on their resolutions calling on the Ethics Committee to release its report into Gaetz last month, compelling leadership to act on the legislation within two legislative days. The House left for Thanksgiving recess the next day, Nov. 21, without taking a vote on the matter, teeing up action early this week.
Casten said he was plowing ahead with his effort even though Gaetz has since withdrawn his name from consideration for leading the Justice Department. It remains unclear if the resolution has enough support to clear the chamber.
Additionally, the House Ethics Committee is scheduled to meet Thursday, its first gathering since Nov. 20, when the panel did not release the report after deliberating behind closed doors. Thursday’s meeting was still scheduled to take place as of Sunday night, a source told The Hill.
Gaetz’s Ethics report is likely to come up during that gathering, as Democrats and Republicans continue to debate whether or not to publish their report — the culmination of a roughly three-year investigation.
The fate of the report, however, was thrown into even more uncertainty after Gaetz dropped out of the running for attorney general as it became increasingly clear that he would not be confirmed by the Senate. Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), the chair of the House Ethics Committee, told CBS News that his withdrawal “should end the discussion” regarding whether the panel should release its report on Gaetz.
The panel had been probing Gaetz on allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. He was also accused of accepting improper gifts, dispensing special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship and seeking to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.
Trump assassination attempt task force to hold hearing
The House task force on the attempted assassination of Trump is scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday, as the due date for the group’s final report quickly approaches.
The hearing — scheduled for Thursday at 9:30 a.m. — is titled “Secret Service Security Failures and the Attempts to Assassinate President-Elect Donald J. Trump.” Ronald Rowe Jr., the acting director of the U.S. Secret Service, is set to testify, a task force spokesperson told The Hill.
Thursday’s hearing comes as the task force prepares its final report on the pair of assassination attempts against Trump. The first took place in July at his rally in Butler, Pa., and the second occurred in September at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Fla.
A final report is due by Dec. 13.
The task force released an interim staff report in October that said the assassination attempt on Trump at his rally in July was “preventable and should not have happened.” The body of work outlined flaws in the planning and security for the rally.
