MSNBC host and former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki conceded that President Joe Biden’s pardon of Hunter Biden was “not good politics” — using it as a launchpad for brutal commentary about President-elect Donald Trump’s picks.

President Biden stunned the political media world Sunday when he announced he is pardoning his son, writing that Hunter “was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong.”

The pardon was greeted with widespread criticism from the media, from critics and some allies, and from President-elect Trump.

On Monday’s edition of MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki, Psaki opened her show with a brief commentary on the pardon, which was greeted with widespread criticism from the media, from critics and some allies. Psaki was critical but empathetic, concluding that Biden acted as a father “not as a politician.”

Psaki then contrasted “private citizen” Hunter Biden with embattled Trump picks Pete Hegseth — battling rape allegations and a devastating whistleblower report in a bid to lead the Pentagon — and  Trump’s nominee for FBI director Kash Patel:

JEN PSAKI: OK. As you probably know by now, President Biden pardoned his son Hunter last night. And if you recall the president saying repeatedly over the last few months that he would not pardon his own son for the — for months he`s been saying that, you`d be correct. It was a commitment that was widely applauded for good reason, including by me.

And last night, Joe Biden reversed course on that commitment. And if you`re wondering whether that is good politics, if you`re wondering if this is great for his legacy, as someone who has consistently stood for principle over personal needs, who even kept the guy on in Delaware who was appointed by Trump, who was going to keep investigating his son, it`s not good politics.

And yes, Hunter Biden has done some stupid things. And yes, Hunter Biden has done some illegal things. He should not have lied about his drug use when filling out paperwork to register for a handgun. We all knew about his recovering from — his recovery from an addiction. He wrote an entire book about it. And of course, he should have paid his taxes in full and on time as everyone should.

My bet is Joe Biden knows that too.

But he made his decision not as a politician. He made it as a dad. And by the way, his son is a private citizen. He`s not a threat to our intelligence gathering, to our national intelligence, or to our law enforcement institutions.

Joe Biden is going to be a private citizen in 50 days too. So, tonight, and moving forward, we`re going to spend most of our time talking about the people who are and who may be.

People like Kash Patel, who Trump tapped this weekend to lead the FBI. Now, there are lots of problems with that choice. First of all, he`s unqualified. He`s a conspiracy theorist. And the thing Trump likes most about him is the very thing that should be most disqualifying, and that is his blind allegiance to one man.

As the Atlantic described it, even in an administration full of loyalists, Patel was exceptional in his devotion to Donald Trump. Now, to be clear, the reason that loyalty or that excessive loyalty is so concerning is that the FBI is supposed to be an independent non-partisan law enforcement agency responsible for investigating crimes without bias or political influence. That`s part of the reason there are 10-year terms. But Kash Patel has made clear he intends to do the opposite on Trump`s behalf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KASH PATEL, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media. Yes, we`re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We`re going to come after you. Whether it`s criminally or civilly, we`ll figure that out. But yes, we`re putting you all on notice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PSAKI: See, Kash Patel is a bit of a deep-state conspiracy theorist, clearly with an axe to grind. In a book he released last year, Patel literally listed the people he says are a part of the executive branch deep state in his words. People he called corrupt actors of the first order. The list included Biden and Obama officials, but also former members of the Trump administration, including former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, former Mark Meadows aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, and even FBI Director Christopher Wray. Yes, the man who still has three more years in his term who Patel is hoping to replace. Think about that for a second. The guy Donald Trump picked to lead the FBI, someone who talks repeatedly about going after the deep state, and he literally has a list. Now, that on its own should send a bit of a chill up the spine of every person who cares about the rule of law in this country.

Today, we also learned a whole lot more about Donald Trump`s pick for Secretary of Defense, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth. The New Yorker`s Jane Mayer released a jaw-dropping piece this morning about Hegseth, and I just want to read you a few paragraphs because it really captures it. Now, as I`m reading this, I want you to really hold in your mind that the person I`m talking about, and Jane Mayer is describing in this piece, is Donald Trump`s choice to lead the Department of Defense. So here we go.

“A previously undisclosed whistleblower report on Hegseth`s tenure as the president of Concerned Veterans for America from 2013 until 2016 describes him as being repeatedly intoxicated while acting in his official capacity to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization`s events.”

The detailed seven-page report, which was compiled by multiple former CVA employees and sent to the organization`s senior management in February of 2015 states that at one point, Hegseth had to be restrained while drunk from joining the dancers on the stage of a Louisiana strip club where he had brought his team.

The report also says that Hegseth, who was married at the time, and other members of his management team, sexually pursued the organization`s female staffers whom they`ve divided into two groups, the party girls and the not- party girls.

In addition, the report asserts that under Hegseth`s leadership, the organization became a hostile workplace that ignored serious accusations of impropriety, including an allegation made by a female employee that another employee on Hegseth`s staff had attempted to sexually assault her at the Louisiana strip club.

In a separate letter of complaint, which was sent to the organization in late 2015, a different former employee described Hegseth being at a bar in the early morning hours of May 29, 2015 while at an official tour through Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, drunkenly chanting, “Kill all Muslims, kill all Muslims.”

Again, that is the guy that Donald Trump wants in the nuclear chain of command. But wait, there`s more in the story.

According to J. Mayer`s reporting, Hegseth wasn`t exactly a star manager. As the head of the nonprofit group Veterans for Freedom, he racked up $430,000 in unpaid bills, in addition to as much as $75,000 in credit card debts. As one strategist who worked for the group at the time emphasized, the VFF was an exceedingly small organization with fewer than 10 employees and a budget of between $5 million and $10 million.

The strategist went on to say “Hegseth couldn`t do that properly. I don`t know how he`s going to run an organization with an $857 billion budget and three million individuals.”

I don`t know either.

Now, Hegseth`s next stop, leading the nonprofit Concerned Veterans for America, didn`t go much better. In an email, one of the whistleblowers that contributed to report on Hegseth stated that he treated the organization of funds like they were a personal expense account for partying, drinking, and using CVA events as little more than opportunities to hook up with women on the road.

So, set aside the 2017 rape allegation that Hegseth denies. Set aside the fact that his mother at one point accused him of abusing women for years. Set aside his alarming take on the Geneva Conventions. Even set aside the stories about him being drunk and trying to get on stage with strippers. Set all that aside.

And what you`re left with is a guy who couldn`t even run a small nonprofit.

Look, I don`t want to sit here every week and tell you everything is a five-alarm fire because some things aren`t and not everything will be, and I`m never going to tell you everything is.

But I`ve worked in the White House in the national security space for years. I know firsthand how important these jobs are. They`re not political jobs either. And if Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth actually get confirmed or somehow find themselves in these jobs, five-alarm fire might be a bit of an understatement.

Watch above via MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki.

The post Jen Psaki Says Biden Pardon ‘Not Good Politics’ — To Kick Off Brutal Commentary On Trump Picks Patel And Hegseth first appeared on Mediaite.

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