Biden issues huge number of pardons and commutations

President Joe Biden has issued a huge number of pardons and commutations, essentially blocking the legal punishments that had been imposed on these individuals. 

Fox News reports that the White House released Biden's latest pardons and commutations on Thursday.

This comes after Biden's highly controversial pardon of his son, Hunter Biden.

With this latest round of pardons and commutations, Biden has not done much to settle the controversy. In fact, he has only added to it.

The latest

According to Fox, Biden has pardoned over three dozen more individuals and he has commutated the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals.

"The White House released a list of names of the 39 people whom President Biden pardoned, as well as a list of the nearly 1,500 whose sentences he commuted, on Thursday," the outlet reports.

To help put this situation into perspective, this move sets the single-day clemency record for any United States president. Biden is now the leader of that category.

Per Fox:

The move from Biden set a new, single-day record for clemency under any president, and it comes after he pardoned his son, Hunter, earlier this month. The controversial pardon of his son put pressure on Biden from others in the Democratic Party to issue additional pardons.

One can find the White House's press release on the pardons and the commutations here.

There is more to come

It's true. Despite all of the pardons and commutations that we have already seen from Biden, the White House has made it clear that even more are on the way before Biden leaves the White House in about a month.

The Associated Press reports, "Biden said he would be taking more steps in the weeks ahead and would continue to review clemency petitions."

Biden has issued a public statement on his latest pardons and commutations.

He said:

America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances. As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses.

To help further put the situation into perspective, the president who issued the second biggest single-day clemency order was Barack Obama, with 330. Just before leaving the White House in 2017, he issued 330 in a single day. Biden did nearly five times as many on Thursday.