President Biden is setting the stage for pardoning his son Hunter as his Department of Justice weighs a potential indictment stemming from a years-long federal investigation, Fox News contributor Miranda Devine warned.
Devine's comments come after Biden finally addressed the possibility of his son facing charges during a rare sit-down interview where he dismissed the chance that it would have any impact on his tenure in office.
"That mythology of Joe Biden that's been around for more than four decades, which is that he's a lovely family man… moderate Democrat, lunch pail Joe, working class Joe, the poorest man in Congress, and a wonderful family man full of empathy because of the tragedies in his own life. That's what he's playing on," Devine said during "Fox & Friends Weekend" Sunday.
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"I think the end game is that he's setting up… framing this sympathy card so that when it comes time, perhaps in his lame duck period, that he will pardon Hunter and Americans will forgive him because they will say, well, Hunter was a drug addict and Joe just loves his family, and he's been through enough tragedy in his life," she continued. "Leave him alone."
"My son has done nothing wrong," Biden said during the sit-down interview with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle that aired at 10 p.m. Friday.
"I trust him. I have faith in him, and it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him," he continued.
But Devine was quick to argue Biden's response was premeditated, and part of a broader Biden strategy to frame the probe as a "political witch hunt."
"It's obviously rehearsed, and the plan for Joe Biden is to just remove himself entirely from the influence peddling operation that he was involved in with his son Hunter and his brother Jim, pretend that it has nothing to do with him, and that Hunter is just being persecuted in a political witch hunt," Devine said.
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"That's probably the only way he can go, considering he's lied about his involvement since before the 2020 election," she continued. "And it will work for him with those Americans, and there are still many of them who believe that Joe Biden, that his only scene is that he loves his son too much."
Investigators are reportedly close to reaching a decision on potential charges targeting Hunter, although the exact timeline still remains unclear.
Sources close to the matter told the Washington Post that U.S. Attorney David Weiss is near a decision in the case, which stems from their years-long probe into potential tax and gun-related violations.
The report comes after Hunter's lawyers met with DOJ officials late last month, as tension has supposedly mounted between his attorneys and his father's legal aides, according to an Axios report.
The report claimed Friday that "tensions" between Hunter Biden and President Biden's aides over his legal defense have led Hunter Biden to hire a new lawyer for a more "combative approach" without consulting with his father’s legal advisers.
A former top Department of Justice spokesman noted that the younger Biden going rogue with his legal decisions and perhaps pushing past the "guardrails" that the president’s advisers would have him follow could be "a legitimate headache for the White House."
"I think from his point of view, he feels he's done nothing wrong," Devine said. "Remember, in his laptop, he says he gave half to give half its money to his father, that he was basically acting as the bag man for the operation, so he just wants to save himself."
Hunter is also facing a congressional investigation into his overseas business dealings and a legal battle in Arkansas over child support for his four-year-old daughter.
Fox News' Chris Pandolfo, Gabriel Hays and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
