At least this much can be said about President Joe Biden’s final months in office: His generosity with his pen and his phone, at least as it relates to clemency and pardons, has extended far beyond his son, Hunter.
On Thursday, Biden set a single-day record for acts of clemency for a president. Nearly 1,500 individuals had their sentences commuted. Another 39 received outright pardons.
Now, to be fair, some of these individuals were people who, according to a White House statement purportedly authored by Biden — whether or not you agree he’s up to writing it is another issue entirely up to you, but his name is on it — “were placed on home confinement during the COVID pandemic” and who “would receive lower sentences if charged under today’s laws, policies, and practices.”
“I will take more steps in the weeks ahead. My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances,” he added.
That almost sounds like a threat when you look at who has received pardons or clemency from the president thus far — and not just on Thursday. Here are some of the worst:
Jin Shanlin (and two other Chinese spies, to boot)
In November, as part of a prisoner swap, one of the individuals who was given clemency by President Joe Biden was a Chinese national named Jin Shanlin, according to Newsweek.
“We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung from detention in the People’s Republic of China,” a representative for the National Security Council said in a statement.
The problem? Jin, a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University, wasn’t just in prison for bush-league charges. Instead, he was serving a sentence of over eight years for possessing over 47,000 images of child pornography on his computer.
Biden just granted clemency to Shanlin Jin.
Shanlin pleaded guilty to possession of child p**n after 47,000 images were found on his computer. His family is also connected to the CCP. pic.twitter.com/2AhdP8zqlc
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 12, 2024
This child pornographer was given clemency and sent back to his home country.
In addition to the convicted pedophile, two Chinese spies were also part of the act of clemency — Ji Chaoqun, who The Federalist said was convicted of “conspiracy to defraud the United States; impersonating agents of foreign governments; statements or entries generally,” and Yanjun Xu, who was convicted in 2022 for “conspiracy to commit economic espionage; conspiracy to commit trade secret theft; attempted economic espionage by theft or fraud; attempted theft of trade secrets by taking or deception.”
BREAKING – Joe Biden pardons two Chinese spies and an individual accused of possessing of child prnography. pic.twitter.com/Uim0a4eThy
— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) December 12, 2024
While not included in Thursday’s extravaganza, the fact that Jin’s crimes were so horrific in nature attracted significant attention on social media in the wake of the latest round of pardons:
Since I saw this going around, I checked. Yes, Biden did grant clemency to Shanlin Jin. He pled guilty to possessing child p o rn.
Specifically, the kind that involves a minor under the age of 12.
I find it difficult to comprehend what grounds there are for clemency. pic.twitter.com/HLL6lnMeH3
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) December 12, 2024
There is not one legitimate reason to grant clemency to people convicted for child p*rnography.
Not one.
And the fact that nobody in the media is even talking about it just shows you what kind of disingenuous hacks they are.
These people who pretend to be morally superior…
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) December 13, 2024
Democrats really are the party of pedophiles. https://t.co/WVhugdHIDi pic.twitter.com/Y4TqOAVSjB
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) December 12, 2024
Rita Crundwell
I’m not sure whether Crundwell is a Democrat, but she certainly sounds like one.
Crundwell, 68, is supposedly behind the largest case of municipal fraud in United States history. She used the money collected by the city of Dixon, Illinois, to “finance her quarter horse business and lavish lifestyle,” the Chicago Tribune reported in 2021.
Either that was profoundly lavish or quarterhorses are pretty expensive, because between 1990 and 2011, she stole an admitted $53.7 million from the town.
In February 2013, she was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in prison. She petitioned for compassionate release in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic, but she withdrew her petition and remained in the federal pen, where she was scheduled to be released on Oct. 20, 2029.
Biden, instead, decided to let the epic fraudster free.
Meet Rita Crundwell. Crundwell was sentenced to almost 20 years for committing the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history, embezzling nearly $54 million from the small city of Dixon, IL.
Today, Biden granted Crundwell clemency. pic.twitter.com/k3XLjj6aOi
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) December 12, 2024
Wonder if he can also get the residents of Dixon their $50-plus million back.
Eric Bloom
Speaking of Crundwell, she wasn’t the only fraudster from the Chicago area who got clemency from Biden during Thursday’s extravaganza.
Eric Bloom led a management firm based out of Northbrook, Illinois: Sentinel Management Group, Inc. According to the Northbrook Patch, the 59-year-old Bloom was convicted in 2014 after defrauding investors out of more than $665 million.
In 2015, he was sentenced to 14 years behind bars. That sentence was expected to end in May 2026 — but he’s now a free man.
Biden commuted the sentence of Eric Bloom, who defrauded clients of $665 million in 2007, the biggest fraud case in Chicago history (which is an impressive achievement; Chicago has a deep bench). He had two years left in his sentence. What is the rationale for that? pic.twitter.com/yC5d6PRh0c
— Pinboard (@Pinboard) December 12, 2024
William Boyland Jr.
It wouldn’t be a pardoning spree without a corrupt Democratic politician involved, and William Boyland Jr. is no exception.
According to the New York Daily News, Boyland Jr. — a former Brooklyn assemblyman whose powerful family has taken on the moniker “the Kennedys of Brownsville” — was given clemency after a 2014 conviction on 21 bribery and corruption charges.
“In one scheme, he shook down an undercover agent posing as a carnival promoter, getting more than $14,000 in bribes to grease the wheels for permits, licenses and letters of support from his office,” the Daily News reported. “In another, he scammed the state out of more than $71,000 in travel voucher money.”
“Boyland conceded after his conviction that returning to elected office wasn’t realistic. A street, a public school and a park in Brooklyn are named after his uncle, former State Assemblyman Thomas S. Boyland.”
Cheer up, though. I hear there might be some room on Burisma’s board of directors.
And keep in mind, this might just be the beginning. Not only was there Hunter Biden’s pardon — something the president promised not to do while on the campaign trail — but there’s been talk of preemptively pardoning top Democrats because of worries Trump might weaponize law enforcement. (Wherever have we seen something like that happen?)
Thus, things could get worse before they get better — even worse than the rebarbative clemency offered to Jin Shanlin, a convicted pedophile who should be rotting in prison for quite some time.
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