Biden’s pardon of Hunter defended by White House as Trump taps in-laws amid presidential transition: Live

A former member of Donald Trump’s administration has warned fellow Republicans not to “underestimate” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the liberal congresswoman is touted as a possible contender to lead the Democratic party.

Speaking on Fox News on Friday, Monica Crowley, a former public affairs official in the Treasury Department during the first Trump administration, said AOC had “real grassroots support” through her early adoption of social media.

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Since losing control of the White House, the Senate and the House, Democrats are looking for new leadership to tackle the nation’s problems with the additional challenge of confronting four more years of a Trump presidency.

Though multiple candidates have already announced themselves as throwing their hats into the ring, one is already emerging as a frontrunner: Ken Martin.

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Donald Trump was quick to react to news of Hunter Biden’s presidential pardon on Sunday night, blasting the decision as “an abuse and miscarriage of Justice.”

In a short post to his social media platform less than an hour after the official announcement, the president mused over pardons for those convicted in the violent insurrection on January 6 2021.

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Jessica Tarlov, a Democratic-aligned commentator on the Fox News channel, argued Sunday evening that it was wrong to blame Joe Biden for pardons Donald Trump goes on to issue under his presidency beginning in January.

Those pardons, Tarlov argued on Twitter, were going to happen regardless, as they did during his first term in office: “Trump was going to pardon anyone he wants no matter what. Anyone pretending otherwise isn’t credible.”

During the final days of his first term, Trump issued pardons for the likes of Steve Bannon as well as right-wing fraudster Dinesh D’Souza.

Donald Trump blasted Hunter Biden’s presidential pardon, issued by his father on Sunday as “an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”

Posting in typical fashion to his social media platform, the President-elect wrote: “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”

Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, became one of the first prominent Democrats to publicly rebuke the president on Sunday after the pardon of Hunter Biden was announced. More are likely to follow.

“While as a father I certainly understand President @JoeBiden’s natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country,” tweeted the governor. “This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation.”

He continued, invoking Latin: “When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation. Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.”

Polis's tweet prompted a response from Eric Holder, former attorney general under Barack Obama's presidency.

"Look at the underlying facts and usual DOJ practice Governor," wrote Holder

Chuck Grassley, lead Republican senator on the Judiciary Committee, expressed his disbelief at the president going back on his word not to pardon his son.

“I’m shocked [President] Biden pardoned his son Hunter [because] he said many many times he wouldn’t, [and] I believed him,” tweeted the senator. “Shame on me.”

Grassley has long held respect for the president and was one of the senators on the GOP side whom Joe Biden and other Democrats often found amicable to work with. His rebuke of the president is sign of how the move by the president is likely to fray trust with even establishment Republicans and some Democratic allies of the White House.