Jeffries presses Biden to issue more pardons before leaving office

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is calling on President Biden to issue more pardons before he leaves office, notably for nonviolent offenders.

“During his final weeks in office, President Biden should exercise the high level of compassion he has consistently demonstrated throughout his life, including toward his son, and pardon on a case-by-case basis the working-class Americans in the federal prison system whose lives have been ruined by unjustly aggressive prosecutions for nonviolent offenses,” Jeffries said in a statement.

“This moment calls for liberty and justice for all,” he said.

On Sunday, Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, arguing the charges against him were brought for political reasons in the campaign cycle.

The pardon clears Hunter Biden of charges in both of his federal cases. It comes after a jury found him guilty in June of three felony charges after he purchased and possessed a gun in 2018 as a drug user. He also pleaded guilty in September to nine federal tax charges.

President Biden’s decision to pardon his son reverberated across Capitol Hill. Several Democrats slammed the president for his decision, which marks a reversal of his previous stance on the issue.

The president said in a statement that the charges in his son’s cases “only came about” after political opponents in Congress “instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.”

“For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” the president said.

Jeffries, in his statement, highlighted President Biden’s long career and how he has “fought to improve the plight” of Americans.

“Many of these people have been aggressively prosecuted and harshly sentenced for nonviolent offenses, often without the benefit of adequate legal representation,” Jeffries said. “Countless lives, families and communities have been adversely impacted, particularly in parts of Appalachia, Urban America and the Heartland.”

His statement echoes those of others who have called on Biden to do as much as he can in office before President-elect Trump takes power.

Jeffries did not specifically say whom he wants Biden to pardon, but The Hill has reached out for more information.

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