U.S. President Joe Biden has granted an official pardon to his son Hunter, who is facing sentencing in two criminal cases.
The president said in a statement that his son was “left alone” and called his case a “miscarriage of justice.”
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to tax charges in early September and was found guilty in June of being a felon in possession of a firearm while using illegal drugs, making him the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a crime.
Commenting on the pardon, President-elect Donald Trump said, “Does the pardon Joe gave Hunter also include the (January 6th) hostages who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of justice!”
Trump was referring to his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.
Joe Biden’s full and unconditional pardon for his son comes after the president repeatedly said he would not grant him pardon.
Just two months ago, in September, White House press secretary Carine Jean-Pierre said Biden would not pardon his son.
She reiterated that position at another briefing last month, saying, “We’ve been asked that question many times. Our answer is no.”
Prior to this, Biden announced at the G7 summit in Italy last June that he would neither pardon nor commute his son’s sentence.
“I said I would abide by the jury’s decision, and I will. And I will not forgive him,” he told reporters covering the summit.
But on Sunday evening, President Biden said that while he trusts the judicial system, “politics has tainted this process and that has led to a miscarriage of justice.”
“From my first day in office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my promise even as I watched my son be selectively and unfairly prosecuted,” he said.
Biden said he wrestled with the decision, adding, “I made the decision this weekend, so there’s no sense in putting it off any longer.”
“I hope the American people understand why my father and the president made this decision,” he said.
The announcement comes after the president brought his family together to spend Thanksgiving weekend in Nantucket. Reporters spotted Biden walking with Hunter, his 4-year-old son Beau, and Biden’s daughter Ashley on Friday.
Top Republicans in Washington reacted fiercely to news of the pardon, with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer saying the president “lied from beginning to end” about the circumstances surrounding his son’s case.
However, there were signs of unrest even within the Democratic Party. Representative Greg Stanton of Arizona became the first politician in his party to publicly disagree with the decision, saying of X, “I respect President Biden, but I think he made this decision wrong.”
Hunter Biden said in a statement that mistakes he made during the darkest days of his addiction were used to publicly humiliate and shame his family for political sport.
The 54-year-old added: “I will never take for granted the pardon given today and I will dedicate the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”
His father said Biden has been sober for five and a half years.
This is not the first time a U.S. president has pardoned a family member.
In 2001, Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother, Roger Clinton, for a 1985 cocaine-related crime.
In 2020, Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, his daughter Ivanka’s father-in-law. President-elect Trump recently Kushner announced he would be the new ambassador to France..
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in September to nine federal tax fraud charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison.
He was also convicted in June of three felonies related to purchasing firearms, which carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
Sentencing in those cases was scheduled for December 12 and 16.
His legal troubles were casting a dark cloud over his father’s presidential campaign, which ended in July. Biden is out of the election race.
Biden supported Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate to succeed him. Republican loses election to Donald Trump In November.
Trump is scheduled to take over the Oval Office from Biden on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025.
