Pardon means Fifth Amendment trouble for Hunter Biden – Washington Examiner

In the hours since the pardon, Republicans, along with legal experts, have elevated the significance of what the younger Biden s pardon means for their long-standing investigations, contending that it opens up the playing field for lawmakers to question him on nearly everything he has now been pardoned from over the past 11 years.

Under the Fifth Amendment, people can refuse to answer questions if their responses might incriminate them in criminal cases. However, with all criminal liability now erased by the pardon, Hunter Biden could face contempt charges if he refuses to testify before congressional panels.

Well, this now makes it much easier for a GOP Senate/House to call Hunter as a witness about his and his dad s connections to Ukraine, etc. because the pardon prevents Hunter from asserting the Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself, Mark Smith, a constitutional attorney and host of the Four Boxes Diner legal analysis show, wrote on X.

Smith also suggested that the pardon sets a great precedent for President-elect Donald Trump if he decides to grant mass pardons for defendants who were charged for their actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, in addition to defendants who have been prosecuted for violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a law conservatives have criticized as unfairly targeting anti-abortion advocates who protest at abortion clinics.

In a separate X post, Harvard Law professor Jack Goldsmith wrote that while a criminal investigation by the incoming Trump administration is off the table for the first son, so is Hunter s 5th Amendment claim before congressional investigators.

via www.washingtonexaminer.com

It’s an ill wind that blows no good.