President Biden pardons his son Hunter, reversing past pledges on legal interference
WASHINGTON – Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Sunday night that he had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, sparing him from a potential prison sentence for tax violations and firearms-related charges. This move marked a reversal of his previous pledges to avoid interfering in legal proceedings and not to use the powers of the presidency for personal benefits.
“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,” the president said in a statement.
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision,” Biden added, claiming he made the decision this weekend.
The White House had said repeatedly that Biden would not pardon or commute sentences for Hunter, a recovering drug addict who became a target of Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump.
The grant of clemency, said Biden, had granted “a full and unconditional” pardon to Hunter Biden for any offences in a window from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.
On the other hand, Republicans criticised the president’s move.
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site, referring to those convicted for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after Trump claimed falsely that he had won the 2020 election.
“Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities,” said Representative James Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
Hunter Biden was convicted in June in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 when, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
He had been set to stand trial in September in the California case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.
The tax charges carry up to 17 years behind bars, and the gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines were expected to call for far less time, and it was possible he would have avoided prison time entirely.
Nevertheless, Biden’s decision is not unprecedented. In his final weeks in office, Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, along with several allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Over the weekend, Trump announced plans to nominate Charles Kushner as the U.S. envoy to France in his second administration.
