ANALYSIS – The Biden White House has a credibility problem of its own making.

And that’s bad timing, considering Joe Biden’s team, fresh off a trip abroad, needs to quickly shift into legacy mode. As the president clumsily touted the domestic infrastructure law he helped draft in Angola this week, to tepid applause, it seemed clear he had his legacy in mind.

But the effectiveness of an upcoming sales pitch will likely be hampered by his pardon of his son Hunter Biden, who was convicted of federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion. The move — which he had previously said he would not take — was criticized by Republican lawmakers and more than a few Democrats, and his justification was sharply criticized by a federal judge.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the president’s main spokesperson and chief image defender, told reporters, as she has done so many times over the years, that they simply shouldn’t believe her lying eyes – and ears.

“One of the things the president always believes in is being honest with the American people. That’s something he always believes strongly in,” she said of Biden’s about-face on Monday aboard Air Force One en route to Africa

Biden returned to Washington early Thursday morning from his multi-day visit to Angola, and no daily news conference was scheduled as travel-weary staffers, including Jean-Pierre, got needed rest.

She could return to the lectern in the White House briefing room as early as Friday. But the pardon drama has led to complications – for both the president and the press secretary.

Finally, Biden told interviewers and shouting members of the White House press corps on numerous occasions that he would not pardon his troubled son. For more than a year, the former two-time vice president and longtime senator responded in a very non-political way — meaning he was both succinct and clear.

One example came on June 6 in France, when ABC News anchor David Muir asked Biden whether he had ruled out pardoning his son. “Yes,” Biden replied, without adding a qualifier that might come in handy later if he changed course.

The same applies to Jean-Pierre, who also asked many questions about a possible pardon.

At a briefing in September 2023, she responded to Hunter’s leniency question: “I’ve answered this question before. Not long ago, a few weeks ago, I was asked about this, and I made it very clear and said, “No.” Fast forward to June of this year, and this was Jean-Pierre’s answer to a similar question: “NO. No. It’s a no. It will always be a no. Biden will not pardon his son Hunter.”

Press secretaries are responsible for protecting the sitting president, turning circumstances in his favor, and shifting blame elsewhere. Jean-Pierre’s answers were quite refreshing at the time because they were so clear and unambiguous.

Then came the sudden pardon on Sunday.

“The prosecution in his cases came only after several of my political opponents in Congress incited them to attack me and oppose my election. Then a carefully negotiated plea deal agreed to by the Justice Department collapsed in the courtroom — and some of my political opponents in Congress took credit for putting political pressure on the trial,” Biden said in an evening statement. “No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s cases could come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was chosen solely because he is my son – and that is wrong.”

The Trump-appointed federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s tax case in California strongly disagreed, saying the president was guilty of too much revisionist history.

“However, two federal judges expressly rejected Mr. Biden’s arguments that the administration prosecuted Mr. Biden because of his family relationship with the President,” Judge Mark C. Scarsi wrote in a Tuesday order in response to Hunter Biden’s pardon petition to the court.

“And the President’s Attorney General and Justice Department staff oversaw the investigations that led to the indictments. “In the President’s judgment, this legion of federal officials, including the signatories, are unreasonable people,” Scarsi wrote, adding: “Nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history.”

Spencer Critchley, a former adviser to Barack Obama’s two successful presidential campaigns, said he believes “Biden made the right decision but made the wrong statement, and history will likely judge her that way.”

“Under normal circumstances I would say he should have stuck to his commitment to stay away from the justice system. “This time, however, it is not about overturning previous decisions, but rather about preventing the coming authoritarian abuses of the justice system, promised by Donald Trump and his appointees,” Critchley said in a statement on Thursday. “Trump followed the authoritarian playbook exactly and dismantled the institutions of democracy. This includes turning justice into a weapon, which he has explicitly promised to use against Hunter Biden, among others. As the old dictator’s motto goes: ‘For my friends, everything. For my enemies, justice.'”

I’m trying to “break” Hunter

But Biden’s statement went in a different direction, a parental one. It contained three sentences that the senior father did not want to share with the country for months, which could have explained his paternal plight.

“There was an attempt to break Hunter — who has been sober for five and a half years, even in the face of relentless attacks and selective prosecution,” Biden said. “By trying to break Hunter, they tried to break me – and there’s no reason to think it will stop here. Enough is enough.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of Biden’s key allies, said this week that he had “taken the president at his word” that he would not pardon his son, adding: “I’m disappointed by definition and I can’t support that.” ” Decision.”

The White House also has yet to clearly explain why Biden made such a dramatic about-face. His advisers also did not explain why the country should still believe his statement in the pardon announcement that “I have followed one simple principle throughout my career: Just tell the American people the truth.”

The irony of the current situation is as undeniable as it is surreal.

After all, it was the President, Jean-Pierre and the rest of the Biden team who spent four years educating the country about the dangers of Trump’s many false statements and lies.

The tarnished credibility raises questions about Biden’s prediction about the American people’s attitude to his about-face: “They will be fair.”

Whether this turns out to be true or not is left to history. Last month’s presidential election results suggested that the electorate had some Biden fatigue.

The next time the president or Jean-Pierre answers questions from a jilted press panel, there will likely be pointed questions about whether the White House was truly “fair-minded” to reporters and, more importantly, to the people. Not just on the Hunter Biden case, but on a variety of topics.

The stunning about-face has clearly allowed Republicans to pounce, another self-inflicted wound to a presidency tainted by them. Some Republican lawmakers claimed on social media that Biden’s about-face vindicated their claims of a dishonest and corrupt government and family.

Multiple GOP sources said Trump — who faces 91 criminal charges and has been cited by media and independent fact-checkers for making thousands of false statements since entering the political arena — has a chance to pull off yet another maneuver on Democrats.

“President Trump’s bold leadership and direct communication style bring a unique energy to governance. … This means clear direction and the chance to implement a vision that resonates with millions of Americans,” a former House leadership aide said in an email. “(Trump’s) ability to attract public support will be a key advantage.”