'Special Report' All-Star panel on Biden's federal marijuana pardons

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Biden announces federal marijuana pardons

‘Special Report’ panelists Mara Liaison, Harold Ford Jr. and Joe Concha discuss Biden’s federal pardon on marijuana and more.

This is a rush transcript of "Special Report with Bret Baier" on October 6, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BAIER: President Biden today with that pardon, the announcement of it. some reaction, senator Bernie Sanders tweeted, "I have long believed that marijuana should be legalized. Those arrested for possession should be pardoned and have their records expunged. The president's executive action today is an important step forward, but much more needs to be done."

Senator Tom Cotton, "In the midst of a crimewave and on the brink of a recession, Joe Biden is giving blanket pardons to drug offenders, many of whom pled down from more serious charges. This is a desperate attempt to distract from failed leadership."

We'll start there with our panel. Let's bring in Harold Ford Jr., former Tennessee Congressman, co-host of THE FIVE, Joe Concha, media and politics columnist for "The Hill," and Mara Liasson, national political correspondent of National Public Radio. Mara, let me start with you. What about this move today? It doesn't affect too many people.

MARA LIASSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: Very few people. Very few people are in federal prison for possession of marijuana. But this was a campaign promise. He made good on it. I don't know what kind of political effect it will have on the midterms, but this is something that has a lot of bipartisan support from voters. It's one of those issues that does cut across party lines. There are a lot of white noncollege men who think this would be a good move. And it might help Democrats around the edges.

BAIER: Joe, what do you think?

JOE CONCHA, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: The timing, obviously, is very interesting, right. We're talking about a midterm that is now 38 days away, and inflation and the economy and crime and the border and education will dwarf an issue like this. This is a one-day news cycle. Just as Mara pointed out, how many prisoners are in federal prison right now for marijuana possession? Probably can count it on one hand. So this is symbolic, and it's going to be washed away by the major issues, primarily inflation, Bret.

BAIER: Harold, thanks for having me on in New York. Double duty.

HAROLD FORD JR., FORMER TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE: Good to be with you.

BAIER: Double duty today on THE FIVE. But what do you make of this? It's obviously political season, but he did promise it on the campaign trail.

HAROLD FORD JR., FORMER TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE: So I'm not a big believer in this. And I'm in a minority, I think, in the country around this. And to everybody's point it does not affect a big population, but it may force a conversation in states and gubernatorial races. And it may force a conversation in Senate races, so it could have a bigger impact. And to Joe's point, inflation and other issues are dominant. Maybe this shifts some momentum for Democrats, which Democrats certainly need after listening to my good friend, Doug Schoen.

BAIER: Late this afternoon, "The Washington Post," "Federal agents see chargeable tax, gun-purchase case against Hunter Biden. Agents determined months ago they had assembled a viable criminal case against the younger Biden, but it is ultimately up to prosecutors at the Justice Department, not agents, to decide whether to file charges in cases where prosecutors believe the evidence is strong enough to lead to a likely conviction at trial."

Obviously got a lot of eyeballs, Joe. It's been going on for a long time. We knew the grand jury wrapped up this summer. What do you make of this?

CONCHA: This investigation, to your point, has been going on since, what, 2018. And now I doubt very, very highly five weeks before the midterms that we're going to see any indictment, particularly when Merrick Garland is the head of the Department of Justice, obviously, the attorney general. So, again, this is a major development, but this will not have any impact on the midterms. Certainly, I think we will see any indictment that comes forward until afterwards. And then the big question will be, is this so much about Hunter Biden or who is the "big guy" that Tony Bobulinski says got 10 percent of those dealings in China, in Ukraine? And if it is Joe Biden, then is the sitting president of the United States compromised by those countries that have been in the news lately?

BAIER: Yes. Here is Tony Bobulinski with Tucker just a couple nights ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BOBULINSKI, FORMER HUNTER BIDEN BUSINESS ASSOCIATE: I spent five-plus hours sitting in a room with at one point I think as much as six federal agents walking through all the facts of my knowledge of the Biden family, how I got involved in this, the trips around the world. They were supposed to be working a follow-up interview, and Tim Thibault in his last discussion with my legal counsel was, listen, we know Tony is cooperating. We appreciate all the information he has provided. We will follow up with you. We're definitely going to have him come in for a follow up interview or spend more time on this. And I haven't heard from him since.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Mara, that's Tim Thibault, not the former football player, at the FBI.

LIASSON: I was confused about that.

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER: Yes, but that's some serious stuff. He's been talking about it. They didn't talk to him after he came out with all the phones and the evidence. This article doesn't talk about that aspect.

LIASSON: No. And there aren't going to be -- if the Republicans take back the House, there are going to be a lot of investigations. I would say they are going to be 24/7 investigations of Hunter Biden, a lot of talk about this.

But this isn't the first time that federal agents have leaked something like this close to an election. This is why you had the information about Hillary Clinton's emails right before the election. So this puts the Department of Justice on the spot. And as that article pointed out, agents don't get to decide whether or not to bring charges. That's up to the Department of Justice. But clearly, some agents in the FBI want Hunter Biden to be indicted.

BAIER: Right. Well, there have been some whistleblowers. Senator Chuck Grassley, others have said they have heard from people inside the FBI that this was kind of quashed, let alone the social media and the media before the election that dealt with this in a different way.

FORD: Look, no one is above the law. Hunter Biden will have to face whatever this reporting suggests. I'm not one that takes any glee when someone faces misfortune. And I don't take any glee -- I know Hunter Biden. I don't take any glee in this. But he went to a great law school, so he understands the consequences. And if the reporting is correct, we will have to see what happens.

BAIER: But you don't think this effects Joe, the midterms?

CONCHA: No, because Joe Biden isn't on the ballot per se. Yes, it is a referendum on the president and his party. But overall, until we see the indictment, and still we see the hearings in the House when Republicans take back the House, and it looks like they may, that's when this story will really kick into gear.

But again, Bret, what this shows is before that 2020 election how this story was suppressed, and we had social media actually censoring accounts over a story that now we see that laptop is real. The emails are real. And what happened before the election as far as social media doing what they did, a very low point for our media and especially social media.

FORD: It wasn't leaked by accident.

BAIER: There you go. Panel, thank you. Mara, thank you from D.C.

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