Washington – President Biden announced late Sunday night that he had issued a pardon his son hunter bidenA major reversal occurred in the last weeks of his presidency.
Mr Biden repeatedly pledged not to pardon his son, who was Pleaded guilty to three separate felony charges in June It relates to his purchase of the revolver in 2018, when he was battling an addiction to illegal drugs, which he lied about in the paperwork to obtain the gun. He also admitted his crime nine tax evasion charges In a separate case in September.
“Today, I signed a letter of clemency for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with Justice Department decision-making, and I kept my word, even though I “The prosecution has been selective and unfair,” Mr Biden said in a statement on Sunday night.
The President argued that Hunter “was treated differently” than others in similar circumstances, claiming that the allegations “provoke a number of my political opponents in Congress to attack me and oppose my election”. Were installed after.
“No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s case can come to any other conclusion than that Hunter was singled out simply because he is my son — and that is wrong,” Mr. Biden said.
The “full and unconditional pardon” applies to any crimes Hunter Biden committed from January 1, 2014, to December 1, 2024.
Mr. Biden did not address reporters on pardon before boarding Air Force One trip to angola,
Hunter Biden's allegations and allegations
The investigation and prosecution of Hunter Biden was led by special counsel David Weiss, a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Delaware who was retained by Mr. Biden's administration in 2021 after other Trump-era prosecutors resigned to continue the investigation. Was asked to give. Hunter's behavior. Attorney General Merrick Garland later granted special counsel status to Weiss. informer And congressional Republicans alleged irregularities in the investigation.
Weiss's office declined to comment on the pardon.
Joseph Ziegler and Gary Shapley, two IRS whistleblowers who came forward to express concerns about the Justice Department's efforts to protect Hunter Biden, said in a statement that it was “a special opportunity for law-abiding taxpayers to “It was a sad day to witness privilege.” Powerful.”
Before dropping out of the presidential race, Mr Biden had pledged not to pardon his son, Saying He rejected this in an interview with ABC News in June. after choosing leave the race The following month, the White House said Mr Biden had no plans to pardon his son, although the potential political consequences of the decision were downplayed. the White House Said As recently as last month the President still had no plans to issue a pardon.
“I have acknowledged and taken responsibility for the mistakes I made during the worst days of my addiction – mistakes that were exploited to publicly humiliate and embarrass me and my family for the sake of political games. Despite it all, I “I have maintained my sobriety for more than five years because of my deep faith and the unwavering love and support of my family and friends,” Hunter Biden said in a statement Sunday night.
The president's son said, “I will never take for granted the pardon I have been granted today and will dedicate the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”
Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced on December 12 on gun convictions and on December 16 on tax evasion charges.
After the White House announced clemency, Hunter Biden's legal team informed the federal judges overseeing his cases in Delaware and California about the clemency so that the cases could be formally dismissed later this month. The upcoming sentencing hearing could be cancelled.
hunter biden was convicted on three felony gun charges Following a proposed plea agreement with federal prosecutors in September got separatedUnder the deal he could plead guilty to two misdemeanor assault charges and enter a diversion program rather than plead guilty to one count of felony gun possession.
During a court hearing in which the plea deal was to be finalized, the judge overseeing the case raised concerns over the terms, while Hunter Biden's legal team pushed back against prosecutors over whether the deal would protect the president's son. This was to protect against any criminal charges in the future.
Hunter Biden was accused of lying on paperwork and illegally purchasing and possessing a gun while he was addicted to crack cocaine. Federal law prohibits users of illicit drugs from possessing firearms.
Prosecutors said the president's son lied to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about his drug use while purchasing a revolver and several other items from a Wilmington, Delaware, gun store on October 12, 2018. .
In a separate case in California, a federal grand jury last December Hunter Biden accused With three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor offenses. The president's son was accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes while living an “extravagant lifestyle.”
According to the indictment, Hunter Biden earned approximately $7 million from his foreign business transactions from 2016 to 2019. He was accused of spending approximately $5 million on “everything but his taxes” during the same time period, including drugs, escorts, and more. Luxury hotels, cars and clothes. Hunter Biden was accused of falsely listing those purchases as business expenses.
After an unsuccessful attempt to enter an “Alford” plea, in which a defendant accepts a guilty verdict while maintaining his innocence, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges on September 5.
“Without aggravating factors such as use in a crime, multiple purchases, or purchasing a weapon as a straw buyer, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges because they purchased a gun,” Mr. Biden said Sunday night. How full it was.” “People who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but later paid them back with interest and penalties, are generally given non-criminal settlements. It's clear that with Hunter Was treated differently.”
White House response
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged questions about the president's counterattack on Monday and repeated parts of the president's statement while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One. He underlined that Mr Biden made the decision over the weekend, saying he was “disturbed” by it.
Emphasizing that Mr. Biden has confidence in the Justice Department, Jean-Pierre said that “politics has influenced the process,” arguing that “both things could be true.” He said the president is not calling for the attorney general's resignation, and said Mr. Biden does not agree with President-elect Donald Trump that the DOJ has been weaponized for political purposes or needs reform.
Jean-Pierre suggested that this decision came partly because the President did not believe his political rivals would concede defeat.
“One of the reasons the president gave the pardon was because he didn't feel like his political rivals were going to let it go,” Jean-Pierre said. “It didn't look like they were going to move.”
reaction to forgiveness
On social media, Trump called Biden's pardon an “abuse and miscarriage of justice”!
Other Republicans condemned the pardons on Sunday and Monday. House Speaker Mike Johnson tweeted that “confidence in our justice system has been almost irreparably damaged by the Bidens and their use and abuse.”
Senator Chuck Grassley wrote that he was “shocked” about the pardon because Mr. Biden “said multiple times he wouldn't do it and I believed him.”[.] shame on me.”
Meanwhile, Colorado's Democratic governor, Jared Polis, wrote on Sunday that as a father, he understood Mr. Biden's desire to pardon his son, but said he was “disappointed that he forced his family out of the country.” Put first. This is a bad example.” “It could be misused by subsequent presidents and would sadly tarnish his reputation.”
But former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder said Sunday night, “A pardon is necessary,” posting on social media that adding that Hunter Biden's “name had been Joe Smith would have been a solution – fundamentally more fairly – a Decline.”
Holder also referred to Trump's announcement over the weekend that he wanted Kash Patel to lead the FBI, saying, “Ask yourself a much more important question. Do you really think Kash Patel would be the world's leading law enforcement officer?” Qualified to lead an enforcement investigation organization? The obvious answer: hell no.”
presidential pardon
Hunter Biden is the 26th person to receive a pardon during Mr. Biden's presidency. Most others received pardons for drug crimes. Trump gave 29 pardon At this point in his first term, but by the time he left office in 2020, a total of 143 pardons had been issued.
This is not the first time a President has pardoned a family member. President Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother Roger Clinton before leaving office. Trump pardoned his son-in-law's father, Charles Kushner, during his first term. Trump announced that he intended Nominate Kushner Saturday as the U.S. ambassador to France.
The two federal cases against Hunter Biden come amid a Republican-led Congress's investigation into his business dealings and whether they involved Mr Biden. The President has said that he has no involvement with his son's businesses and that investigative committees have provided no evidence of the President's involvement in wrongdoing.
robert legare And
Contributed to this report.