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Speaker 1: Ninety two. Ninety two is the text number. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: standard text costs a player. You can email me as well.

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Speaker 1: Jack at Newstalk that News Talk saidb dot co dot nz.

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Speaker 1: Let me know your thoughts on that right now. To

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Speaker 1: eleven past four and US President Joe Biden has pardoned

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Speaker 1: his son Hunter, who was set to be sentenced for

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Speaker 1: gun and tax convictions. In a statement, the President said

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Speaker 1: that Hunter had been unfairly singled out and prosecuted because

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Speaker 1: of his family name. But it is a bit of

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Speaker 1: a U turn, to say the least. Here's what Joe

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Speaker 1: Biden said back in June. I am satisfied that I'm

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Speaker 1: not going to do anything shadowed by the jury decision.

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Speaker 1: I will do that and I will not partner him.

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Speaker 1: Logan Church is TVNZ's US correspondent, and he joins us

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Speaker 1: now I will not pardon him. Those were the words

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Speaker 1: of Joe Biden. Why has he changed his mind?

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Speaker 2: Oh, Jacket's certainly a recap. Certainly a U turn, isn't this?

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Speaker 2: I mean, just for a very quick recap for those

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Speaker 2: who haven't been following this case Hunter Biden. Of course,

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Speaker 2: Joe Biden's son had been charged and convicted for crime

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Speaker 2: releasing to illegally buying a gun and tanks avoidance. This

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Speaker 2: all came to a headering a trial earlier this year

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Speaker 2: in Delaware that exposed a loss of Hunter Biden's past

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Speaker 2: in regards to drug abuse and family dysfunction, a lot

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Speaker 2: of what he's talked about in his memoir, and he

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Speaker 2: was due to be sentenced actually this month. Now. In America,

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Speaker 2: of course, the president has the power to parson people

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Speaker 2: for crimes and for all of Joe Biden's reelection campaign,

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Speaker 2: and after he stepped aside and supported Kamala Harris, he

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Speaker 2: vowed that he would not use that to cardon his

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Speaker 2: son as all. And it appeared like a political strategy

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Speaker 2: more than anything else. Now for context, at the same time,

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Speaker 2: Donald Trump was accusing Biden of weaponizing the justice system

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Speaker 2: against him. So no pardon four Hunter until today. Now,

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Speaker 2: this pardon covers any potential federal crimes that Hunter Biden

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Speaker 2: committed from January first, twenty fourteen, through to December first,

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty four And this news kind of coming, as

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Speaker 2: you say, is a shot to everyone.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it. It says to me that

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Speaker 1: Joe Biden just doesn't care anymore. He doesn't have another

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Speaker 1: election campaign to fight. Logan, he doesn't give a tass.

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Speaker 1: He feels like he's been let down by his Democrat colleagues.

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Speaker 1: He knows that his legacy has already been tainted by

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Speaker 1: Trump's reelection. But is there any real meat on the

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Speaker 1: bone when it comes to his argument around this being

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Speaker 1: a travesty of justice?

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Speaker 2: Well, this is a Sunday night here, and Joe Biden

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Speaker 2: did put out a statement to try and explain that

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Speaker 2: of his thinking behind this. So he said in that

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Speaker 2: as you say, that he issued the barden because his

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Speaker 2: son was, in quoting here, selectively and unfairly prosecuted, and

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Speaker 2: that he believed Huns was treated differently from people who

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Speaker 2: committed similar crimes. Now. President Biden also said that his

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Speaker 2: political opponents in Congress instigates of the charges to attack

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Speaker 2: him and oppose his re election. And I'm going to

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Speaker 2: quot him again here. I believe in the justice system,

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Speaker 2: he says that I have wrestled with this. I also

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Speaker 2: believe raw politics has infected this process and it has

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Speaker 2: led to a miscarriage of justice. I hope Americans will

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Speaker 2: understand why a father and the president would come to

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Speaker 2: this decision. But we really need to take a giant

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Speaker 2: step back here and surveyed a tumultuous terrain that has

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Speaker 2: been the Joe Biden presidency. Because it's worth noting that

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Speaker 2: this is not the first time that Joe Biden has

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Speaker 2: I would generally use this description, changed his mind on

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Speaker 2: big issues. So remember when he said that he would

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Speaker 2: be a transitional president to hand the torch to the

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Speaker 2: next generation and then totally backtracked on bass and ran anyway. Well,

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Speaker 2: today Joe Biden has once again backtracked on months of

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Speaker 2: very clear and strong messaging that he wouldn't pardon his son.

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Speaker 2: He laid down all of those arguments in the Statesman's

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Speaker 2: Will it convince the American people? Well, you can imagine

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Speaker 2: how the Trump camp has reacted this evening, many of

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Speaker 2: them coming out strongly accusing the current president of lying.

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Speaker 2: But it's certainly the end of another unprecedented chapter in

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Speaker 2: this a quite bizarre time in American politicans.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, crazy times. Thanks Logan, appreciate it. That's TV and

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Speaker 1: z's US correspondent Logan Church.

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