RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Biden’s spared his son Christmas in jail. But the real reason why is utterly self-serving – and he’s the one who REALLY benefits

With less than seven weeks to go before the second coming of Donald J. Trump, Joe Biden is cleaning house.

On Sunday evening he pardoned his degenerate son Hunter, who was due to be convicted of gun and tax crimes, despite repeatedly denying any such intentions.

“No one is above the law,” he emphasized.

Biden Junior could have faced up to 25 years in prison, although it was unlikely that he would have received such a long sentence as the first offender.

But the timing of the pardon was crucial. Hunter was due back in court this month and would almost certainly have served a prison sentence. If Joe Biden had waited until he left office in January, his son could very well have spent Christmas and New Year behind bars.

Presidents have traditionally issued pardons at the end of their terms, often on the very last day. Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother Roger, who was convicted of drug trafficking.

Trump pardoned his son-in-law’s father, Charles Kushner, who was found guilty of tax evasion, witness tampering and making illegal campaign contributions. (Former presidential candidate, New Jersey governor and big Bruce Springsteen fan Chris Christie, sued Kushner, calling him one of the “most disgusting, disgusting” criminals he had ever dealt with. Kushner has just been nominated by Trump as America’s ambassador to France, which he probably deserves.)

Barack Obama has pardoned, commuted or expunged the convictions of nearly 2,000 people.

While every president since George Washington has granted pardons, few – if any – have been as selfish as the president who granted Hunter Biden to his own father. The suspicion is that Joe is not only pardoning his son, but also protecting himself from possible future prosecution.

This specific pardon applies not only to the charges Hunter would be convicted of, but to any crimes he may have committed since January 1, 2014.

The significance of that date is that it extends back to when Hunter served on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, for which he was paid an astonishing $1 million per year despite having no previous experience in the oil and gas sector .

During this period, Joe Biden was Obama’s vice president, responsible for US foreign policy in Ukraine. It has since been alleged by a source described by the FBI as a “trusted confidential informant” that both Bidens received bribes of $5 million each from a corrupt Ukrainian businessman.

It is also alleged that Joe pressured the government in what we used to call Kiev to fire a prosecutor investigating corruption in Burisma, threatening to block a billion dollars in US aid unless he got his way.

What isn’t in dispute is the fact that Hunter and Joe’s little brother James have been involved for decades in a series of commercial ventures that make money off his political connections, leading Trump to dub them the “Biden Crime Family.”

Two Inland Revenue Service agents told a Senate hearing that the Biden family had received $17 million in compensation from foreign companies.

I discussed all this last year in a Saturday essay for the Mail. It was further reported that Hunter allegedly used his father’s position to force a lucrative business deal with a Chinese conglomerate.

In 2017, an email from Hunter about the China deal stated that 10 percent was for the “Big Guy.” Whistleblowers have since said the Big Guy was Joe Biden.

That email was found on a laptop that Hunter had left at a repair shop in Delaware, along with another to his sister complaining that he was expected to hand over half his income to his father.

The hard drive contained a trove of explosive material and was copied by the repair shop owner, who handed it over to Trump’s then-lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

It contained photos of Hunter using crack cocaine and associating with prostitutes. One photo showed a naked hunter brandishing a gun.

Although the potentially incriminating evidence was published online by Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, Fox News and Dailymail.com, it was ignored by America’s pro-democracy mainstream media as it could jeopardize Joe Biden’s first bid for the 2020 presidential election have brought.

In the run-up to that election, the FBI refused to admit that the laptop belonged to Hunter Biden, insisting that it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign — a fiction put forward by none other than Joe Biden himself.

President Biden has consistently denied ever discussing or “doing business” with his son or his brother, something disputed under oath by Hunter’s former business partner in evidence before a Senate committee.

Whatever the truth of these claims and counterclaims, there is no disguising the fact that Biden has done well financially over the years.

He has always acted on his “middle class” image – what we call working class – Ordinary Joe. When he became Veep in 2009, he claimed to have a net worth of just $30,000. As he prepares to leave office, his net worth is estimated at around $40 million, depending on who you believe. It has to come from somewhere.

There is a widespread belief that any jail time for Hunter, especially with an impending Trump presidency, would open a giant can of worms, allowing Joe to become involved in all kinds of financial improprieties.

For the past eight years, the Democratic-dominated Deep State has waged an all-out legal battle against The Donald and now he is seeking revenge. He’s placing MAGA loyalists at the Justice Department and the FBI, and they will soon begin sifting through what’s left of the files.

The noise coming from the retreating administration in Washington is that shredders are working overtime and smashing hard drives under the hammer, Hillary Clinton style.

Biden’s presidency ends in disgrace and disgrace. No one was particularly surprised that he pardoned Hunter, but what sticks with real “Ordinary Joes” is that Biden has repeatedly lied to the American people.

When he resigned in the summer, was there a deal with the Democratic establishment based on the assumption that Kamala Harris would beat Trump and give Hunter a Get Out Of Jail Free card?

When she lost, after painting himself into the corner, Joe had no choice but to walk out on the paint.

Cannot be ruled out. Biden had already lost a son to an untimely death, and he did not want to lose another son to Rikers Island prison.

He claimed yesterday that his decision to pardon Hunter was based on fatherly love, but could not resist adding that “rough politics has tainted this process and led to a miscarriage of justice.”

That’s pretty rich coming from a cynical, partisan president who has turned the legal war dogs against his Republican political opponent, dragging Trump into court, raiding his house military Palm Beach style and trying to put him in jail .

The politically motivated cases against Trump have collapsed since the election. And while he seeks retaliation against the Democrat Deep State apparatchiks responsible, indications are that he’s willing to let Joe sneak off into the sunset and take Hunter with him.

Was there a split when the two men recently met at the White House that would allow Joe Hunter to pardon and in return Trump would pardon all those January 6 Capitol rioters found guilty of non-violent crimes?

Shouldn’t be surprised. Everything is transactional with Trump. America needs him to wipe the slate clean after decades of bitter division.

As for Biden, he’s a Dead Man Walking, but I don’t give much credence to the speculation that he could back down now and let Kamala become America’s first female president of color in the last ten minutes.

I think Trump was right when he said at an election rally, “I think Joe likes me more than them.”

So Biden still has a few weeks to clean house before the Second Coming. But whatever else, he won’t leave his office with clean hands.