Joe Biden promised not to pardon his son, Hunter, for either his gun crimes (for which he was convicted earlier this summer) or his tax evasion. Joe Biden is also a liar and a corrupt beneficiary of his son’s influence peddling, so while he may well wait until after Election Day on November 5, don’t expect his promise to hold all the way through 11:59 a.m. on January 20, 2025.

Keep that in mind while pondering Hunter Biden’s surprise guilty plea yesterday in his tax evasion case.

Just as jury selection was about to begin, Hunter entered an Alford plea, which is a way to plead guilty and accept sentencing while maintaining innocence. Defendants do this to avoid a trial in which the evidence against them is effectively insurmountable. Prosecutors say they will fight it, with Leo Wise telling the court, “Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty.”

Specifically, what’s the crime here? For years between 2016 and 2019, the president’s son intentionally did not pay at least $1.4 million in taxes — what some might call his “fair share” — on income that included money, er, earned overseas.

Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, however, wants to “move on,” asserting that the plea is an effort “to protect those he loves from unnecessary hurt.” Hunter said the same thing: “I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy, and needless embarrassment.”

That’s all laughable, given that Biden’s crime is evading taxes on money he earned selling the family name. The “unnecessary hurt” and “needless embarrassment” are further incriminating evidence or even just implication of Joe Biden in the criminal and corrupt activity. The idea of an “invasion of privacy” regarding people at the top echelons of power is an insult to the American people.

Besides, the true embarrassment already happened in the form of the Democrats’ defenestration of Joe Biden in July. They undoubtedly saw Hunter’s legal troubles crimes as a great reason to carry out their coup.

Nevertheless, Hunter is cutting a deal to protect “The Big Guy,” which is also the main reason why the Bidens are still trying to control the narrative. It’s the same narrative in which Joe Biden lied to the country, telling us that Hunter’s incriminating laptop was “Russian disinformation.”

Part of their tall tale is that Hunter just made some mistakes, and the president loves him so very much despite them. “Like millions of Americans, I failed to file and pay my taxes on time. For that, I am responsible,” Biden said in a statement. “As I have stated, addiction is not an excuse, but it is an explanation for some of my failures at issue in this case.”

Oops, said the victim.

Regarding the type of plea, Biden’s attorney added, “All over the U.S. people do this.”

Wrong. Normal people do not sell their family name overseas, capitalizing on their dad being vice president. Normal people aren’t offered sweetheart plea deals for multiple serious felonies because their dad is now president. By the way, that plea deal came after years of U.S. Attorney and then Special Counsel David Weiss slow-walking charges to try to run out the statute of limitations.

As Creedence Clearwater Revival once sang, “I ain’t no fortunate son.”

Thanks to some whistleblowers last summer, Hunter’s sweetheart plea deal went ka-boom, and here we are. But just because Hunter entered this plea doesn’t mean we should, as Kamala Harris is so fond of saying, suddenly be “unburdened by what has been.”

We should remember the decade and a half of Hunter and Joe’s corruption, as well as their nearly successful attempt to game the justice system. Kamala “The Prosecutor” Harris should certainly be burdened by it.

In fact, that leads me to some prognostication. As we discussed the case in our editorial call this morning, Douglas Andrews offered his assessment: “Hunter’s guilty plea makes him appear more sympathetic, more honorable, more pardonable. That gives his dad a green light to go back on his vow not to pardon him. When he does, outrage will ensue, and Kamala Harris, a.k.a. The Prosecutor, can create her own Sister Souljah moment by disavowing her boss’s decision, further demonstrating just how independent she is, how blameless she is for the failures of Joe Biden, and what an authentic change agent she is. Yeah, it’s something of a political triple-bank shot, but it’d be a win for Hunter, a win for Joe, and a political win for Kamala.”

Hunter faces 25 years on the three gun felonies and a maximum of 17 years on the tax charges. The Big Guy surely won’t let him spend a day behind bars.

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