Invoice Clinton defended his choice to pardon his half-brother Roger Clinton, drawing a pointy distinction to Biden’s current pardon of his son, Hunter Biden.
Talking on the New York Instances DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Clinton highlighted that his brother had served time and contributed to justice earlier than receiving a pardon, a nuance that, he implies, didn’t apply in Hunter Biden’s case.
Clinton pardoned Roger Clinton throughout his presidency after his half-brother had already served time for a 1985 conviction on drug expenses. Roger, then in his 20s, had pleaded responsible to conspiring to distribute cocaine and spent 14 months in federal jail.
Invoice Clinton emphasised that the pardon was meant to revive his brother’s rights as a citizen, notably the precise to vote, which had been stripped as a consequence of his felony standing.
Talking on the Summit, Invoice Clinton mentioned that Roger’s pardon adopted a accomplished sentence and that his brother had cooperated with authorities in dismantling a bigger drug operation.
In a cautious critique that prevented direct criticism of Biden, Invoice Clinton mentioned:
Effectively, I believe that the President did have cause to imagine that the character of the offenses concerned have been prone to produce far stronger hostile penalties for his son than they’d for any regular particular person underneath the identical circumstances.
However I might urge all of you to only take a look at the details earlier than you make a judgment and see what they’re speaking about and what the context is. Which is as a result of I’m nonetheless studying.
Anyone mentioned, “Effectively, this is rather like when Invoice Clinton pardoned his brother.” Effectively, it’s not.
My brother did 14 months within the federal jail for one thing he did when he was 20. I supported it. He testified, advised the reality about what he’d performed when he had a drug downside, and helped to deliver down a bigger enterprise. They sentenced him, after which he served 14 months.
WATCH:
BILL CLINTON: HUNTER’S PARDON IS NOTHING LIKE THE ONE I GAVE MY BROTHER
“Anyone mentioned this is rather like when Invoice Clinton pardoned his brother.
Effectively, it’s not. My brother did 14 months in federal jail for one thing he did when he was 20, and I supported it.
And he… pic.twitter.com/zcukwdJtuV
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) December 8, 2024