president biden was in normandy today commemorating the 80th anniversary of d-day. while he was there he was asked about something totally unrelated. whether he would issue a pardon for his son hunter if he is convicted of felony gun vices. here is how he responded. as we sit here in normandy, your son hunter is on trial. let me ask you, will you accept the jury s outcome, their verdict, no matter what it is? yes. and have you ruled out a pardon for your son? yes. pretty clear answer there. but again, this is a yes or no question. and to be honest, it shouldn t be that hard to answer. joe biden as president with the power to pardon anyone he wants at the federal level will let his son go to prison if he is found guilty by a jury of his peers because that is how the american justice system is supposed to work. now compare that answer to former president donald trump s answer. on trump s last day in office, january 20th, 2021, he issued more than 70 pardons and there
indicted he brought the case to federal court and went in front of judge hellerstein among other claims he made. he made this claim about presidential immunity. and the judge said that mr. trump had not presented any evidence at all that hiring and paying your own personal attorney relates to your core constitutional duties. paying hush money to a porn star relating to your core constitutional duty. up for debate in a donald trump presidency. it was shocking, or covering up a conspiracy to promote your election by unlawful means is part of your core constitutional duties. the biggest insult is to say they didn t come up with a colorable argument. didn t even try. the georgia case has more to do with his duties because it relate to an election, but even that, you are talking about whether it relates to even remotely relates to his constitutional duties calling an elected official asking them
the new york criminal case against donald trump was one of the four he is facing that will reach the sentencing stage before the november election. two of those cases of course federal prosecutions that will likely be shut down by trump s justice department if, it is a big if, donald trump is elected president. and then there is georgia. a state level case of prosecutorial independence that the doj can t touch and for which trump can t pardon himself. now, trump knows all of this quite well. he is doing everything in his power to shield himself from any charges regardless of whether he wins the election or not. he is doing it with the help of his own party in congress. where the speaker of the house is now considering a bill to give current and former american presidents the option of moving state or local prosecutions into the federal courts instead. joining me now is duncan levan.
and latino teenagers. this was a man sued by richard nixon s justice department for discriminating against black renters. he said laziness is a trait in blacks. he promoted the birther conspiracy about our first black president. he told the white house staff that haitian immigrants to america all have aids. i could go on. now, donald trump believes his criminal convictions somehow put him in league with communities that have faced systemic injustice. something that as president, trump claimed does not exist. i think the police are doing an incredible job. trump s black people love me because i m a convict argument
falsify election results or pretend they are electors. so i don t think any of this relates to the outer, outer, outer perimeters of what he is arguing here. so it is unlikely to carry any water but with some of these judges, and the supreme court these days where they are flying flags upside down, you don t know what they will rule and how they will take it up. and when they are. i wonder what you imagine the prosecution in the new york case is going to ask for in terms of sentencing for trump s 34 felony convictions. jail time. period. they will ask for jail time. with good reason. and it is not politics. it is because is case calls out for jail time. i think it is because and you could argue look, this is somebody who has lived a law- abiding life for a long time. it is low level e felony. his first criminal conviction. it is non-violent. but, you could also argue on the other side and this is the way the prosecution will see it