US President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter, who was convicted of firearms possession and tax evasion, despite previously promising not to use his executive powers to grant pardons.
Biden said Sunday that his son was “selected and unfairly” prosecuted because of his last name.
“Even in the face of relentless attacks and selective prosecution, Mr. Hunter worked hard to break through five and a half years of sobriety,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
“They tried to break Hunter, and they tried to break me too—and there’s no reason to believe it’ll stop here. Enough is enough.”
Explaining his decision, Biden said that throughout his career he has followed the principle of telling the truth to the people out of a belief that Americans are fair-minded.
“Here’s the truth. I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with it, I also believe that raw politics has infected this process and that has led to miscarriages of justice. After we made this decision over the weekend, there was nothing “it would be prudent to delay any longer,” Biden said.
“I hope the American people understand why our father and president is making this decision.”
Biden’s announcement comes weeks before Hunter Biden is to be sentenced on a series of felonies related to making false statements about drug use on a gun background check and failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. It was held on.
The outgoing president’s decision is likely to spark debate over the independence of the U.S. judiciary, but President-elect Donald Trump will use a law enforcement agency solidified by his allies to target political opponents. It has already attracted attention amid warnings from critics that it is an attempt.
Trump, who faced a series of criminal cases before his re-election, has largely assured that he will face no serious legal repercussions and has slammed the pardon as an abuse of power.
“Does the pardon Joe gave Hunter include J-6 hostage who has now been imprisoned for years?” President Trump wrote on his social media platform “Truth Social” in January 2021. He said this, referring to those convicted of crimes related to Wednesday’s riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“What an abuse and miscarriage of justice!”
The younger Biden had been sentenced to up to 25 years in prison in the tax case and up to 17 years in prison in the firearms case, but he almost certainly would have received a much lighter sentence under federal sentencing guidelines.
David Weiss, the special prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the allegations against Hunter Biden, filed the charges after an earlier plea deal fell apart under scrutiny from a judge.
In justifying the pardon, Biden said it is “very unlikely” people will go to court for inaccurately filling out gun purchase forms, and people who fail to pay their taxes usually receive “non-criminal resolutions.” said.
The president said Republicans used his son’s problems to harm him and oppose the election, citing the impeachment effort that cut off Hunter Biden’s overseas business activities.
“Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal agreed to by the Justice Department unraveled in court, and many of his political opponents in Congress took credit for applying political pressure to the process,” Biden said. said.
“If a plea agreement had been reached, Hunter’s case would have been resolved fairly and reasonably.”
Biden’s pardon covers not only his son’s tax and firearms convictions, but also those he committed or may have committed or been involved in between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2024. ” All other crimes are also covered.
In June, Biden flatly ruled out pardoning or commuting his son’s sentence.
“I said I would defer to the jury’s decision. I will, but I’m not going to pardon him,” Biden said.
The White House reiterated that Biden would not pardon his son until Nov. 8, when press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: “Our answer is no.”
Hunter Biden said in a statement Sunday that the mistakes he made during his struggles with addiction were “exploited to publicly humiliate and humiliate me and my family in political sports.”
“If we do not take for granted the mercy that has been extended to us, the recovery process gives us the opportunity to make amends and rebuild our lives as best we can,” he says.
“I will never take for granted the pardon granted to me today and will dedicate my rebuilt life to helping those still suffering from this disease.”
Under the U.S. Constitution, the president has nearly unlimited power to pardon people convicted of federal crimes.
U.S. presidents have historically used pardons to benefit family members and political allies.
Just before the end of President Trump’s first term, Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, was sentenced to prison on charges including tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions and witness tampering. pardoned.
In 2001, former US President Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother Roger Clinton Jr., who served more than a year in prison for trying to sell cocaine to an undercover police officer in the 1980s.
