President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter on Sunday despite previously assuring he wouldn't do so on multiple occasions. He justified his reversal in a statement saying that despite he believes in the justice system, "raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice."
"Once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision," Biden added. He granted his son a "full and unconditional pardon."
Hunter Biden was set to be sentenced this month on two different charges: one regarding the purchase of a gun and another one to tax evasion. The decision not only applies to these charges but also any other crime he might have committed in the past decade.
President Biden made reference to his son's addictions in the statement, saying his political opponents were going after Hunter in order to get to him. "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,"
Statement from President Biden
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 2, 2024
“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter…”
Full statement: https://t.co/InKuzm3vMF pic.twitter.com/vhxIjr1xIe
"There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they've tried to break me — and there's no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough."
Hunter Biden was convicted in June on three felony charges related to the purchase of a gun after being found guilty of lying on a mandatory purchasing form when he said he wasn't illegally using or addicted to drugs.
Concretely, he was charged with two felony counts of making a false statement related to the purchase of a firearm and a third count of illegally possessing a gun while being an unlawful user of drugs. The jury reached the verdict after only three hours of deliberation. The crimes carry sentenced of up to 25 years in prison, although it would have been unlikely for Biden to get that amount.
As for the tax evasion case, Biden was formally accused of engaging in a "four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019." Biden, his wife Jill and several officials, including press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, had said throughout the administration that Hunter would not be pardoned.
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