President Joe Biden has sparked controversy by using his presidential powers to pardon his son, Hunter.
The younger Biden was facing sentencing in two separate cases but will now be free from any charges between 2014 and 2024.
The pardon has provoked criticism because the current president previously said he would not pardon his son.
After Hunter was convicted of offences relating to lying about his drug use in order to buy a gun, the president said last summer: “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”
Changing his mind this week though, President Biden said: “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.” He also said the charges against Hunter Biden were a miscarriage of justice.
Read on for a closer look at how a presidential pardon works and what it means for Hunter Biden.
What is a presidential pardon?
The presidential pardon power has been explicitly outlined in the US constitution since its formation.
Specifically, section 2 of article II states that the US president has the power to “grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment”.
That means the president’s power only applies to federal crimes not state ones and cannot be used in cases of impeachment.
While many countries have a similar process, the United States is relatively rare in not requiring input from anyone but the president in order for pardons to be put into effect.
The inspiration for the presidential pardon in the US stems from England, where monarchs had a long history of issuing mercy pardons.
Alexander Hamilton pushed for the power to be solely vested in the president, without needing any input from Congress.
“As men generally derive confidence from their numbers, they might often encourage each other in an act of obduracy, and might be less sensible to the apprehension of suspicion or censure for an injudicious or affected clemency,” he wrote in Federalist no 74, one of a series of essays to promote the ratification of the constitution. “On these accounts, one man appears to be a more eligible dispenser of the mercy of government, than a body of men.
“In seasons of insurrection or rebellion, there are often critical moments, when a well-timed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquillity of the commonwealth; and which, if suffered to pass unimproved, it may never be possible afterwards to recall,” he continued.
In simple terms, Hamilton saw the value of having a single voice able to make decisions in times of crisis or high pressure, or to avoid peer pressure or herd mentality among a group of decision-makers.
How has Joe Biden used the presidential pardon?
President Biden pardoned his son Hunter on Sunday December 1 for any federal crimes “he committed or may have committed” between 1 January 2014 and 1 December 2024.
That ten-year span is now wiped clean for Hunter, a decision that has proved controversial but is not as rare as you might think. And it is not first time the power has been used for relatives of presidents.
Hunter was due to face sentencing later this month in two federal cases, one relating to gun ownership and the other concerning tax evasion.
In the first case, he was found guilty by a jury in Delaware on three charges of lying about drug use on a form while buying a handgun.
In the second case, he pleaded guilty to a federal tax case in September because he had not paid enough tax between 2016 and 2019.
Hunter could have faced up to 25 years for the gun case and 17 years for the tax case but he was expected to receive shorter sentences. He will now face no jail time, thanks to the pardon.
How else has the presidential pardon been used?
Presidents all the way back to George Washington have used the presidential pardon, with the first president using it for the first time in 1795 to pardon two men involved in the Whiskey Rebellion.
This was a violent uprising in Pennsylvania to protest against a tax on whiskey and other alcohol products by the nascent federal government.
Other instances include Gerald Ford issuing a pardon for Richard Nixon for crimes relating to Watergate, Jimmy Carter issuing a mass pardon for those who avoided military service in the Vietnam War, and Bill Clinton’s controversial pardon for his half-brother and another for Marc Rich, a fugitive convicted of financial crimes whose ex-wife had been a major donor to Democrats and the Clinton campaign.
That last example highlights that pardoning family members is not new. President-elect Donald Trump also pardoned relatives during his first presidency, specifically Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared, as well as other political allies.
Kushner, who has now been nominated as the ambassador to France, had pleaded guilty years earlier to tax evasion and witness tampering.
