On Sunday evening, President Joe Biden released a statement pardoning his son Hunter Biden on charges related to guns and taxes. This move contradicted Biden’s previous pledge not to use his executive power to benefit his family.
Previously, the president has stated that he would not pardon his son or commute his sentence after Hunter was convicted in two cases in Delaware and California. The pardoning came just weeks before his son was set to receive a prison sentence for firearm felonies and a guilty plea on tax evasion.
Hunter Biden said he was under federal investigation in December 2020, a month after his father’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
In the statement, Biden claimed that the politics has clouded the justice system, and led to an unfair prosecution.
The pardon covered not only the two previously mentioned crimes but also any crime that Hunter committed or may have committed between 1 January 2014 and 1 December 2024.
Joe Biden has come under attack by his political rival after he was determined to stand by his son as he plunged into drug addiction. Furthermore, the Republican-ruled House has also attempted to impeach the elder Biden for his son’s dubious overseas ventures, in which he denied involvement.
Hunter Biden was charged in Delaware federal court with three felonies for a firearm purchase in 2018 when he lied on his firearm purchasing form that he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
In September, the younger Biden was also convicted in California for failing to pay no less than $1.4 million in taxes, but he later pled guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges hours after jury selection was set to begin. Hunter said that the plea was to spare his family further pain and embarrassment after the gun trial exposed details of his crippling cocaine addiction to the public.
A part of the statement published by the White House wrote:
“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” he said in a statement released by the White House.
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”
