Scott Gurvey's Public Offerings

Yes, he’s a liar. Yes, he’s a hypocrite. Let’s drive him out of office. Let’s forget that he brought us through the Covid crisis, stabilized the economy, passed laws designed to fund future growth and development, expanded healthcare and restored America’s standing among its allies. Let’s call him an old fool, a disgrace, and never vote for him again.

Wait a minute.

Excuse me if I don’t get on the bandwagon in the media and on both sides of the political divide in condemning President Joe Biden for pardoning his son Hunter. To steal a phrase (“Gone with the Wind”), frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.

Hunter Biden was less than three years old when his mother Neilia and his infant sister Naomi were killed in an automobile crash. Hunter was badly injured with injuries to his skull and traumatic brain damage. His older brother Beau suffered from several broken bones. Both boys spent several months in the hospital during which time their father, Joe, was sworn into the United States Senate representing Delaware. Beau died of glioblastoma, brain camcer, at the age of 46.

There is no question that Hunter’s injuries left him with some impariments and drug dependencies. He never achieved the success of his father or his brother, who served eight years as the attorney general of Delaware. There is also no question that Hunter, struggling to make a name for himself in business, played on his connection to his father, who went on from the Senate to become Vice-President and then President.

From the moment Joe Biden entered the 2020 presidential race against then incumbent Donald Trump, Hunter and his father have been the targets of false allegations from the Trump camp claiming that Joe pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor to protect Hunter’s business dealings. Following Joe Biden’s victory over Trump, his attorney general, Merrick Garland, named a Trump appointed U. S. Attorney, David Weiss, special counsel to probe Hunter’s activities.

In June 2023, Hunter was indicted on federal misdemeanor charges of failing to pay federal income tax and a felony charge of illegally possessing a weapon. A plea deal Hunter reached with prosecutors, which would have seen him plead guilty to two tax charges and reach an agreement on the felony gun charges, fell apart when a Trump appointed judge said she had concerns about linking the tax plea agreement to the deal prosecutors reached on Hunter’s gun charge.

Neither of Hunter’s two indictments would produce a jail sentence under similar circumstances for a “regular” target. But because of the politicalization of Hunter’s case, he was not a regular target. A second Trump appointed judge was preparing to sentence Hunter to years in jail on a gun charge that should never have been brought.

The talking heads on both sides of the aisle are upset by the pardon. But I understand. Joe Biden has given enough. He has nothing to lose. So, he followed a long line of presidents who issued a controversial pardon on their way out the door.

The bigger question is, should he issue other pardons? President Biden has already followed-up with a commutation of some 1,500 sentences and thirty-nine pardons in the biggest single-day act of clemency in American history. These are mostly for people with drug possession charges on their records.

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances. That is why, today, I am pardoning 39 people who have shown successful rehabilitation and have shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer. I am also commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who are serving long prison sentences—many of whom would receive lower sentences if charged under today’s laws, policies, and practices. These commutation recipients, who were placed on home confinement during the COVID pandemic, have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance.”

White House statement, President Joe Biden

But what about the lengthy list of political enemies Trump has targeted for retribution when he takes back control of the White House? People who believe he will not follow through with his promises are deluding themselves. Post election, Trump sidestepped a question about this on “Meet the Press” suggesting that his attorney general and FBI director will be free to make up their own minds on this without direction from him.

In the same interview Trump said the members of Congress who served on the committee that investigated the January 6 coup attempt should be jailed. Former Republican House member Liz Cheney has been a frequent target of Trump’s threats. Trump has also stated an intent to pardon everyone charged in connection with the January 6th insurrection.

Trump has also said he wants to see the Capitol police officer who shot and killed a rioter on January 6 tried for murder. The victim was part of a mob breaking through a door protecting members, including the Speaker and the Vice-President. Trump has also suggested that journalists be investigated criminally for their writing.

Some of these rantings are so outrageous and so clearly unconstitutional one is tempted to quickly dismiss them. But the cost of defending false charges can be crippling even if they are eventually thrown out of court. And with the currect political bias of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, I would not be willing to count on a favorable outcome even when the First Amendment and the Speech and Debate clause seem to clearly apply.

Trump has chosen deranged loyalists for those positions that might be voices of reason. First former Congressman Matt Gaetz and then, when Gaetz crashed and burned, former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi for the federal AG job. Bondi continues to falsely insist that the 2020 election was fraudulent.

For FBI Director Trump has selected former US Attorney Kash Patel. Patel is such a MAGA acolyte he is positively rabid. A full blown conspiracy theorist, Patel served as a senior official in the first Trump administration, is the author of a book that includes a list of “deep state” officials to target, Trump called a “blueprint to help us take back the White House and remove these Gangsters from all of Government”.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) wants President Biden to issue blanket pardons for all individuals who might become targets under the leadership of Patel. Boyle warned that Patel’s appointment signals an intent to use the FBI to settle personal grievances rather than focus on justice and the protection of the American people. “By choosing Kash Patel as his FBI Director, Trump has made it clear that he is more focused on settling personal scores than on protecting the American people or upholding the rule of law,” Boyle wrote.

Boyle says the threat is not hypothetical, pointing out that law enforcement officers, military personnel, and other individuals could face intense legal challenges under Patel’s leadership. “These patriots shouldn’t have to live in fear of political retribution for doing what’s right,” Boyle said. “That’s why I’m urging President Biden to issue a blanket pardon for anyone unjustly targeted by this vindictive scheme.”

Biden should start with Patel’s own list:

1. Michael Atkinson (former inspector general of the intelligence community)
2. Lloyd Austin (defense secretary under President Joe Biden)
3. Brian Auten (supervisory intelligence analyst, FBI)
4. James Baker (not the former secretary of state; this James Baker is former general counsel for the FBI and former deputy general counsel at Twitter)
5. Bill Barr (former attorney general under Trump)
6. John Bolton (former national security adviser under Trump)
7. Stephen Boyd (former chief of legislative affairs, FBI)
8. Joe Biden (president of the United States)
9. John Brennan (former CIA director under President Barack Obama)
10. John Carlin (acting deputy attorney general, previously ran DOJ’s national security division under Trump)
11. Eric Ciaramella (former National Security Council staffer, Obama and Trump administrations)
12. Pat Cippolone (former White House counsel under Trump)
13. James Clapper (Obama’s director of national intelligence)
14. Hillary Clinton (former secretary of state and presidential candidate)
15. James Comey (former FBI director)
16. Elizabeth Dibble (former deputy chief of mission, U.S. Embassy, London)
17. Mark Esper (former secretary of defense under Trump)
18. Alyssa Farah (former director of strategic communications under Trump)
19. Evelyn Farkas (former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia under Obama)
20. Sarah Isgur Flores (former DOJ head of communications under Trump)
21. Merrick Garland (attorney general under Biden)
22. Stephanie Grisham (former press secretary under Trump)
23. Kamala Harris (vice president under Biden; former presidential candidate)
24. Gina Haspel (CIA director under Trump)
25. Fiona Hill (former staffer on the National Security Council)
26. Curtis Heide (FBI agent)
27. Eric Holder (former FBI director under Obama)
28. Robert Hur (special counsel who investigated Biden over mishandling of classified documents)
29. Cassidy Hutchinson (aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows)
30. Nina Jankowicz (former executive director, Disinformation Governance Board, under Biden)
31. Lois Lerner (former IRS director under Obama)
32. Loretta Lynch (former attorney general under Obama)
33. Charles Kupperman (former deputy national security adviser under Trump)
34. Gen. Kenneth Mackenzie, retired (former commander of United States Central Command)
35. Andrew McCabe (former FBI deputy director under Trump)
36. Ryan McCarthy (former secretary of the Army under Trump)
37. Mary McCord (former acting assistant attorney general for national security under Obama)
38. Denis McDonough (former chief of staff for Obama, secretary of veterans affairs under Biden)
39. Gen. Mark Milley, retired (former chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff)
40. Lisa Monaco (deputy attorney general under Biden)
41. Sally Myer (former supervisory attorney, FBI)
42. Robert Mueller (former FBI director, special counsel for Russiagate)
43. Bruce Ohr (former associate deputy attorney general under Obama and Trump)
44. Nellie Ohr (wife of Bruce Ohr and former CIA employee)
45. Lisa Page (former legal counsel for Deputy Director Andrew McCabe at FBI under Obama and Trump; exchanged texts about Trump with Peter Strzok)
46. Pat Philbin (former deputy White House counsel under Trump)
47. John Podesta (former counselor to Obama; senior adviser to Biden on climate policy)
48. Samatha Power (former ambassador to the United Nations under Obama, administrator of AID under Biden)
49. Bill Priestap (former assistant director for counterintelligence, FBI, under Obama)
50. Susan Rice (former national security adviser under Obama, director of the Domestic Policy Council under Biden)
51. Rod Rosenstein (former deputy attorney general under Trump)
52. Peter Strzok (former deputy assistant director for counterintelligence, FBI, under Obama and Trump; exchanged texts about Trump with Lisa Page)
53. Jake Sullivan (national security adviser under President Joe Biden)
54. Michael Sussman (former legal representative, Democratic National Committee)
55. Miles Taylor (former DHS official under Trump; penned New York Times op-ed critical of Trump under the byline, “Anonymous”)
56. Timothy Thibault (former assistant special agent, FBI)
57. Andrew Weissman (Mueller’s deputy in Russiagate probe)
58. Alexander Vindman (former National Security Council director for European affairs)
59. Christopher Wray (FBI director under Trump and Biden; Trump nominated Patel to replace him even though Wray’s term doesn’t expire until August 2027)
60. Sally Yates (former deputy attorney general under Obama and, briefly, acting attorney general under Trump)

Who keeps an enemies list and promises retribution? Apparently, someone with a lengthy list. If you read Patel’s book, or just listen to his statements, you must question his mental stability. The list I remember belonged to President Richard Nixon. That enemies list, if you’re not old enough to remember, did not serve Nixon well.

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