Washington — President Biden announced late Sunday that he had signed a pardon for his son Hunter Biden, a major reversal in the final weeks of his presidency.
Mr. Biden repeatedly promised that he would not pardon his son, who was convicted in June of three separate charges related to his purchase of a revolver in 2018, when he was battling an addiction to illegal drugs, which he lied about on paperwork to obtain the gun, and pleaded guilty nine charges of tax evasion in a separate case September.
“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 have kept my word, even as I have seen my son treated selectively and unfairly. prosecuted,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday evening.
The president argued that “Hunter was treated differently” than others under similar circumstances, claiming that the charges were filed after “several of my political opponents in Congress incited them to attack me and oppose my election. “
“No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s cases could come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” Biden said.
Hunter Biden was investigated and prosecuted by special counsel David Weiss, the Trump-appointed US attorney in Delaware who was retained by Mr Biden’s administration in 2021 when other Trump-era prosecutors were asked to resign to investigate Hunter’s behavior to continue. . Attorney General Merrick Garland later elevated Weiss to special counsel status after whistleblowers and Republicans in Congress alleged irregularities in the investigation.
Weiss’ office declined to comment on the pardon.
Mr Biden, before dropping out of the presidential race, had pledged not to pardon his son, proverb in an interview with ABC News in June that he had ruled it out. After choosing it leave the race the following month, the White House claimed that Mr. Biden had no plans to pardon his son, although the potential political fallout from the decision had diminished.
The White House said last month that the president still had no plans to pardon his son.
“I have taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that were exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sports. Despite all of this, I have maintained my sobriety for over five years. because of my deep faith and the continued love and support of my family and friends,” Hunter Biden said in a statement Sunday evening.
“I will never take for granted the clemency given to me today and will dedicate the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering,” the president’s son said.
Hunter Biden will be sentenced on December 12 for weapons convictions and on December 16 for tax evasion.
Following the White House’s announcement of the pardon, Hunter Biden’s legal team informed the federal judges overseeing his cases in Delaware and California about the pardon policy so that the cases can be formally dismissed and the sentencing hearings scheduled for later will take place this month may be cancelled.
Hunter Biden was charged with three firearms crimes in September following a proposed plea deal with federal prosecutors under which he would have pleaded guilty to two felonies and entered a diversion program rather than plead guilty to a gun possession count fell apart.
During the hearing at which the plea deal was to be finalized, the judge overseeing the case expressed concerns about the terms, while Hunter Biden’s legal team pushed back against prosecutors over whether the deal was intended to benefit the son of the protect the president from any future criminal prosecution.
Hunter Biden was accused of lying on paperwork and illegally purchasing and possessing a gun while addicted to crack cocaine. Federal law prohibits users of illegal drugs from possessing firearms.
Prosecutors said the president’s son lied about his drug use on a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives form when he bought a revolver and several other items at a gun store in Wilmington, Delaware, on Oct. 12, 2018.
In a separate case in California, a federal grand jury last December accused Hunter Biden with three misdemeanor 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 about $7 million in income from his foreign business activities between 2016 and 2019. He was accused of spending nearly $5 million on “everything but his taxes” during the same period, including on drugs, escorts, luxury hotels, cars and clothing. Hunter Biden was accused of falsely reporting these purchases as business expenses.
After trying unsuccessfully to enter an Alford plea, in which a defendant accepts a guilty verdict while maintaining his innocence, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty on September 5 to the tax evasion charges.
“Without aggravating factors such as use in a crime, multiple purchases or buying a gun as a straw buyer, people are almost never tried on a crime charge solely because of the way they filled out a gun form,” Biden said Sunday evening. “Those who paid their taxes late due to serious addictions, but then paid them back with interest and penalties, typically receive non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.”
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. And President-elect Donald Trump pardoned the father of his son-in-law, Charles Kushner, during his first term. Trump has announced his intention to do so nominate Kushner Saturday as U.S. ambassador to France.
Robert Legare contributed to this report.
