President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on Sunday, after months of insisting he would not.
A Delaware jury in June convicted Hunter Biden of knowingly possessing a gun while under the influence and making false statements on purchase documents, but the president said he would not commute his son's sentence. said. Biden released a statement announcing the pardon, noting that his son was singled out in the judicial process because of their relationship. (Related: Biden family desperately clings to power, but one beloved grandchild is still frozen out)
“No reasonable person considering the facts of Hunter's case could come to any other conclusion than that Hunter was chosen solely because he is my son, but that is wrong. Relentless attack and selection. Even in the face of criminal charges, they continued to try to break Hunter, who has been sober for five and a half years. There is no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough,” the president wrote.
“Throughout my career, I have followed a simple principle of just telling the truth to the American people. They will be fair-minded. This is the truth: I believe in the justice system, but this As a result, raw politics has infected this process and it And after I made this decision this weekend, there was no point in further delaying why a father and president of America would make this decision. We hope that the public will understand,” the statement continued.
President Biden pardoned his son Hunter after months of insisting he would not do so. @DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/uZ1dBCmj3t
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) December 2, 2024
Special Counsel David Weiss was indicted In September 2023, he filed a lawsuit against Hunter Biden, alleging that the president's son knowingly possessed a Colt Cobra while under the influence of drugs and falsely described drug use on purchase forms.
Hunter Biden had originally planned to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and serve no prison time in exchange for a diversion agreement for felony firearm charges, but the agreement It fell apart in July after District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika raised concerns about a disclaimer clause included in the diversion agreement.
Since Hunter was indicted, the president and his staff have made clear they have no plans to pardon the 82-year-old son.
“I'm so proud of my son Hunter. He overcame his addiction. He's one of the smartest, most decent people I know,” Biden said in June. stated. “And I'm satisfied that I'm not going to do anything. I said – I'll defer to the jury's decision. I will, and I won't forgive him.”
In November, the White House press secretary claimed that the president had no intention of pardoning his son before leaving office.
“We've been asked that question many times, and our answer is no,” Jean-Pierre said.
Explaining his decision to pardon his son, Biden said in a statement that the charges brought against Hunter were used by his “political opponents.”
“The charges in his case only arose after several of my political opponents in Congress attacked me and incited me to contest my election,” he wrote.
“The carefully negotiated plea deal that the Justice Department agreed to was then unraveled in court, and many of my political opponents in Congress took credit for bringing political pressure to the process. “The Hunter case would have been resolved fairly and rationally,” Biden's statement continues.
Ahead of his pardon, Biden was spotted spending time with his children Hunter and Ashley Biden on Nantucket this weekend.
