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Washington — In a reversal of his earlier statements that he would not use his presidential power to reduce his son’s sentence or pardon him, Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on Sunday night.
“As I’ve struggled with this, I’ve come to the conclusion that raw politics has corrupted the legal system and caused a miscarriage of justice.
Once I reached this choice this past weekend, there was no use in postponing it any longer. In his statement, Biden stated, “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.”
Hunter Biden’s sentencing for his conviction on federal firearms crimes was set for December 12. In a different criminal matter, he entered a guilty plea to federal tax evasion charges in September and was scheduled to be sentenced on December 16.
According to a White House statement, the president granted Hunter Biden a “full and unconditional pardon” for any crimes he “committed or may have committed or participated in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.”
The president decided to pardon his son over the weekend and started telling his closest advisers on Sunday, a senior White House official told NBC News, which broke the story first.
In his remarks on Sunday night, the president also discussed his son’s battles with addiction and said that his political rivals were attempting to “break” him by targeting Hunter Biden.
“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” Biden said in the statement.
Hunter, who has been clean for five and a half years despite relentless assaults and selective prosecution, has been the target of an attempt to break him.
They have attempted to break me in an attempt to break Hunter, and there is no reason to think that this will be the end of it. “Enough is enough.”
Hunter Biden added in a separate statement that he had “admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction — mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport.”
“Despite all of this, 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,” he said.
“I wasted a lot of chances and benefits when I was struggling with addiction. If we never take the kindness we have received for granted, we will have the chance to reconstruct our lives and, if feasible, make restitution throughout our rehabilitation.
I will dedicate the life I have rebuilt to assisting others who are still ill and in pain, and I will never take the mercy granted to me today for granted.”
A request for comment from special counsel David Weiss’s spokesman was not immediately answered. Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s lawyer, remained silent.
“The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system,” said Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for President-elect Donald Trump.
As he returns to the White House with a resounding mandate from the American people, President Trump will do just that—he will reform that justice system and restore due process for all Americans.
As his tenure in the White House draws to a close and he has no more elections to contend with, Biden, 82, is utilizing his pardon authority to make sure Hunter Biden does not serve time in prison.
He has said in recent months that he would neither reduce his son’s sentence or grant him a pardon.
In June, after a jury’s conviction of Hunter Biden on three federal firearms counts, he said, “I will not pardon him.”
According to two individuals with intimate knowledge of the conversations, the president has spoken about pardoning his son with some of his closest advisors at least since Hunter Biden’s conviction in June.
They added that while pardoning his son was still an option, it was determined at the moment that he would publicly state that he would not do so.
In a written response sent about twenty-four hours after the story was published, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre denied the allegation and reaffirmed that Biden had decided to grant the pardon over the weekend.
Reporters were just informed by Jean-Pierre that Biden’s stance is unchanged. “That question has been posed to us many times. “Our response remains unchanged, which is ‘no,'” she said.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, “The president has spoken to this,” when asked last week whether the president is still adamant about refusing to give mercy for his son.
“I don’t have anything to add what he said already,” Bates said in response to a question about whether Biden’s stance has changed.
Jill Biden, the first lady, has also said that her husband would not forgive their son. In a June interview, she said, “The bottom line is that Joe and I both respect the judicial system.”
The first criminal trial involving a sitting president’s kid was that of Hunter Biden in June. His father was running for re-election, and a pardon after that trial would have sparked a political firestorm for him.
For years, Republicans have accused Hunter Biden and the president of corruption and criticized him for his international business activities.
They have also claimed that because of his father’s political influence, Hunter Biden was receiving preferential treatment from the Justice Department.
When Hunter Biden entered a guilty plea in a deal with federal prosecutors on the tax and gun charges in July 2023, it fell apart when a judge questioned it, marking the height of GOP criticism.
A few weeks later, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed David Weiss, the U.S. attorney looking into Hunter Biden, as special counsel as a result of that development.
A pardon before to last month’s election would have caused political backlash against Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign when she replaced Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket after Biden withdrew from the presidential run in July.
Hunter Biden faces a potential jail term of 42 years for the 12 charges for which he is found guilty or has entered a guilty plea.
However, convictions for these offenses usually do not result in the maximum terms. For example, according to the Justice Department, sentences are usually less than the maximum penalty of 17 years for the tax offenses.
Biden said, “Yes,” when asked in a June interview whether he would rule out a pardon for his son. The president declared in a statement that he would respect the verdict.
When a jury in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, found Hunter Biden guilty on federal firearms charges a few days later. He then assured reporters that he would follow the jury’s verdict.
Biden said, “I’m very proud of my son Hunter.” “He is no longer addicted. I’m content that I won’t do anything since he’s one of the smartest, most kind guys I know.
I said that I would follow the jury’s verdict. I won’t forgive him, but I will do that. Last year, Joseph Ziegler, an IRS case agent who turned whistleblower in the Hunter Biden tax inquiry.
Told NBC News that he started the investigation himself after discovering bank records that indicated Hunter Biden was using a company bank account to pay prostitutes and make extravagant expenditures. Ziegler said that his decision to initiate the investigation was unaffected by politics.
He said, “I am a gay man of 38 years of age.” “I have straightforward politics. I’m a Democrat. “If I were his White House counsel, I would encourage him to pardon his son,” Neil Eggleston.
The former White House counsel to President Barack Obama, said on Monday on NBC News. He said that the White House has not been in touch with him or asked for his opinion on any plans for a pardon.
According to Eggleston, “the clemency power has few limitations and certainly would extend to a Hunter Biden pardon.”
Eggleston’s viewpoint is consistent with those of several former White House and Justice Department officials who have previously participated in presidential pardons and who told NBC News that they believe Biden needs to utilize this authority ahead of the Trump administration.