The Daily Signal - Press Secretary Defends Biden’s Choice to Pardon Son, Washington Reacts to Kash Patel’s FBI Nomination, American Hostage Dead | Dec. 2

Starting point is 00:00:00 White House Press Secretary Corrine Jean-Pierre is defending President Joe Biden's decision to pardon his son. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal's Top News in 10 for Monday, December 2nd. President Joe Biden says he changed his mind. After months of saying that he wouldn't pardon his son Hunter on Sunday night, he did. White House Press Secretary Corrine Jean-Pierre also said previously that Biden would not pardon his son Hunter. Now, the press secretary is defending the president's decision. Karin-Jean-Pierre spoke to press and denied that the president lied to the American people, even though Biden did repeatedly say that he would not pardon Hunter.

Starting point is 00:00:49 The White House press secretary spoke to the press on Air Force One and defended the president's choice to pardon his son Hunter over the weekend. He came to this decision this weekend. So let's be very clear about that. He says it himself. It's in his voice. He said he came to this decision this weekend. And he said he wrestled with this. And because he believes in the Justice Simpson, but he also believes that the war politics

Starting point is 00:01:15 infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice. Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Hans Von Spakovsky joins us now to discuss Hans. Welcome back to this show. Well, thanks for having me. Yeah, yeah, changed his mind. The fact that Joe Biden was going to pardon his son was a sure. as the fact that the sun rises in the east. So there was never a question in your mind.

Starting point is 00:01:38 I was never a question my mind. I knew he would do it. It was just a question of how soon would he do it? Would he wait till his last day in office? And he obviously decided not to wait. Well, obviously, so Hunter Biden, he was scheduled to be sentenced on December 12th for his conviction on his federal gun charges case. And then on December 16th for the federal tax evasion case. Why do you think he chose to do it now?

Starting point is 00:02:04 Because you're not actually lodged as being convicted until you are sentenced. And so this way, the pardon wipes out everything. He can claim that he was never actually convicted. And I think that's why he did it now. Is this pardon legal? The pardon is perfectly legal. There's no limit on the power of the president. In fact, a president if he wanted to, could pardon himself if he was somehow criminally

Starting point is 00:02:33 prosecuted. Okay. I have seen some in the news liken the style, the wording of this pardon to the pardon that former president Richard Nixon received after his resignation. Are there similarities here? Well, it's a very broad pardon. I mean, I've heard people saying, well, it pardons Hunter Biden for the criminal tax charges and the gun charge. No, it's not limited to that. It's for absolutely anything that Hunter Biden, might have done or did starting in January of 2014. This, by the way, clears him out of the serious charges that could have been and should have been brought against him, but never were by the Justice Department for violation of the FARA Act. That's the Foreign Agent Registration Act. And as we all know, what was the basis of all of this?

Starting point is 00:03:29 It was Hunter Biden acting as an agent for foreign agent. companies in China, in Ukraine, lobbying the government, in fact, lobbying his father. That's overwhelming evidence that he violated that federal law, but he was never indicted for it. And now he can't be. So a broad sweeping pardon for any criminal activity committed over the course of about 11 years. Well, Hans, thank you for your expertise on this. As always, we appreciate your time. Thanks for having me.

Starting point is 00:03:58 President-elect Donald Trump caused plenty of stir over the long holiday weekend by naming Cash Patel to head the FBI. Patel is 44 years old and a former national security official. He served in the first Trump administration as an advisor to the director of national intelligence and the Secretary of Defense. If Patel is confirmed, the current FBI director, Christopher Ray, will be forced out. Trump appointed Ray to the position back in 2017. reactions to Patel's nomination have been mixed, to say the least. Ben Carson, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, celebrated the news saying that Patel will ensure the Bureau is free of political influence and will refocus it

Starting point is 00:04:41 to its true mission of protecting the American people and upholding the U.S. Constitution. Senator Ted Cruz said on CBS News that Cash Patel is a strong candidate for the position. I think Cash Patel is going to be confirmed by the Senate. you look at his background. He has a serious professional background. He was a prosecutor. He was a public defender. He was a senior intelligence staffer on Capitol Hill. He was a senior intelligence staffer in the White House. He was the chief of staff of the Department of Defense. He was the deputy director of national intelligence. And I got to say, all of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, all of the people pulling their hair out are exactly the people who are dismayed about having a real reformer come into the FBI and clean. out the corrupted partisans who sadly have burrowed into senior career positions at the FBI. But Patel has certainly not received a positive response from everyone. Former deputy director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, told CNN that Patel was a terrible choice for the role.

Starting point is 00:05:46 The fact that Cash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even like a matter for debate. So I think what we should really be thinking about right now is what does this signal in terms of Donald Trump's intent for the FBI? The installation or the nomination, I guess we should say at this point, of Cash Patel's FBI director can only possibly be a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI, and to possibly use it as a tool for the president's political agenda. So what has Trump said about his vision for the future of the FBI Under Patel? Under Patel's leadership, Trump said the FBI will end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the border. Cash will work under our great Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring back fidelity, bravery, and integrity to the FBI.

Starting point is 00:06:50 It remains to be seen whether all Republican senators will be. back Patel's nomination, so stay tuned. We learned early this morning that Israeli-American hostage Omar Nutra is dead. The Israeli defense forces broke the news. The IDF says that new intelligence confirmed that Neutra was killed on October 7th, and his body was taken back to Gaza. Neutra was born in New York City in 2001. After high school, he took a gap year and participated in a leadership program in Israel.

Starting point is 00:07:22 and after that year, Nutra decided to join the Israel Defense Forces and became a tank platoon commander. And on October 7th, he was serving close to Israel's border with Gaza. Neutra's tank was found empty shortly after the terrorist attack, and he was initially believed to have been taken as hostage alive back to Gaza. His parents have spent months advocating for his release. His mother spoke of the hardship of not knowing if her son was alive, while giving remarks on the main stage of the Republican National Convention in July. Imagine over nine months, not knowing whether your son is alive, waking up every morning, praying that he too is still waking up every morning.

Starting point is 00:08:12 Several hours after the news broke of Neutra's death, Trump issued a warning to those holding the hostages. Trump said in a post on true social, everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire world in the Middle East. But it's all talk and no action. Please let this truth serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume office as president of the United States, there will be all held to pay in the Middle East. And for those in charge who, perpetrated these atrocities against humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America. Release the hostages now. The president-elect being very clear there. There are still three Israeli Americans who are believed to be alive and being held hostage in Gaza. That's among about 60 total hostages that are

Starting point is 00:09:18 still believed to be alive in Gaza. There's another about 35 bodies who are believed to be being held by Hamas in Gaza. Now let's hit our news flashes of the day. As we move toward an incoming Trump administration, one thing looks to be sure. California is going to do everything it can to protect its leftist policies from the new administration. California state lawmakers return to their state capital today. California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers have begun a special session focused on protecting progressive laws in the state. For example, the Associated Press reports that Democrat Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel has introduced legislation to set aside $20 million for legal fees to fight potential attacks from the Trump administration

Starting point is 00:10:08 on state policies regarding civil rights, climate change, immigration, and abortion. With that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks for joining us here for the Daily Singles Top News in 10. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on our brand new shows. Have a great rest of your night. We'll see her right back here around 5 p.m. tomorrow for Top News in 10.

The Daily Signal - Press Secretary Defends Biden’s Choice to Pardon Son, Washington Reacts to Kash Patel’s FBI Nomination, American Hostage Dead | Dec. 2

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