Biden's Pardon Blitz: Hunter Biden and Marcus Garvey Among Controversial Last-Minute Clemencies as Trump Takes Office

Nathan Rivero, 1/20/2025Biden issues controversial pardons, including Hunter Biden and Marcus Garvey, before Trump takes office.

The lame-duck president's eleventh-hour move to pardon Garvey — a figure whose legacy remains divisive — comes as part of a broader pattern of pardons that appear designed to appease the radical left while thumbing his nose at the incoming Trump administration.

While supporters, including Congressional Democrats, have long pushed for Garvey's pardon, claiming his 1920s mail fraud conviction was politically motivated, many view this last-minute action as Biden desperately trying to cement his legacy among progressive voters.

The timing couldn't be more suspect — with Biden set to leave office Monday, he's engaging in what appears to be a calculated attempt to tie the hands of the incoming Trump administration. This includes his shocking decision to commute the sentences of 37 death row inmates to life imprisonment, directly challenging President-elect Trump's strong stance on capital punishment.

Perhaps most egregious is Biden's brazen pardon of his own son Hunter, who faced serious charges related to gun crimes and tax fraud. This naked display of nepotism — protecting his own family while claiming to champion criminal justice reform — exemplifies the double standards that have defined his presidency.

"He was the first man, on a mass scale and level, to give millions of Black people a sense of dignity and destiny," the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once said of Garvey — words that Biden's administration has weaponized to justify this controversial pardon.

The pardons extend beyond Garvey to include several left-wing activists and Democratic politicians, including Virginia House Speaker Don Scott — who, despite his past drug conviction, rose to become the chamber's first Black speaker. Scott's response dripped with practiced humility: "I am deeply humbled to share that I have received a Presidential Pardon from President Joe Biden for a mistake I made in 1994."

Biden's pardon spree — which includes immigrant rights activist Ravi Ragbir and gun control advocate Darryl Chambers — appears carefully calculated to advance a progressive agenda while potentially shielding his allies from future prosecution under Trump's administration.

This unprecedented wave of pardons and commutations — the highest number of individual clemencies granted by any president — raises serious questions about the abuse of presidential powers in the twilight hours of a failing administration. As President-elect Trump prepares to take office, these last-minute maneuvers threaten to undermine our justice system and the will of the American people who voted for change.

In a final act of presidential overreach, Joe Biden has unleashed a wave of controversial pardons — including a posthumous pardon for Black nationalist Marcus Garvey and a deeply troubling blanket pardon for his own son Hunter Biden — just hours before leaving office to President-elect Donald Trump.The lame-duck president's eleventh-hour move to pardon Garvey — a figure whose legacy remains divisive — comes as part of a broader pattern of pardons that appear designed to appease the radical left while thumbing his nose at the incoming Trump administration.While supporters, including Congressional Democrats, have long pushed for Garvey's pardon, claiming his 1920s mail fraud conviction was politically motivated, many view this last-minute action as Biden desperately trying to cement his legacy among progressive voters.The timing couldn't be more suspect — with Biden set to leave office Monday, he's engaging in what appears to be a calculated attempt to tie the hands of the incoming Trump administration. This includes his shocking decision to commute the sentences of 37 death row inmates to life imprisonment, directly challenging President-elect Trump's strong stance on capital punishment.Perhaps most egregious is Biden's brazen pardon of his own son Hunter, who faced serious charges related to gun crimes and tax fraud. This naked display of nepotism — protecting his own family while claiming to champion criminal justice reform — exemplifies the double standards that have defined his presidency."He was the first man, on a mass scale and level, to give millions of Black people a sense of dignity and destiny," the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once said of Garvey — words that Biden's administration has weaponized to justify this controversial pardon.The pardons extend beyond Garvey to include several left-wing activists and Democratic politicians, including Virginia House Speaker Don Scott — who, despite his past drug conviction, rose to become the chamber's first Black speaker. Scott's response dripped with practiced humility: "I am deeply humbled to share that I have received a Presidential Pardon from President Joe Biden for a mistake I made in 1994."Biden's pardon spree — which includes immigrant rights activist Ravi Ragbir and gun control advocate Darryl Chambers — appears carefully calculated to advance a progressive agenda while potentially shielding his allies from future prosecution under Trump's administration.This unprecedented wave of pardons and commutations — the highest number of individual clemencies granted by any president — raises serious questions about the abuse of presidential powers in the twilight hours of a failing administration. As President-elect Trump prepares to take office, these last-minute maneuvers threaten to undermine our justice system and the will of the American people who voted for change.