WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not rule out the possibility that President Biden might commute his son Hunter’s prison sentence if he receives one for a federal gun crime, saying she has not discussed the matter with the president since his son was convicted on Tuesday.
Joe Biden, 81, told ABC News in an interview last week that he has no plans to pardon Hunter, 54, but did not comment specifically on whether he would allow him to serve time in federal prison.
“I have not spoken to the president about this case since the verdict was handed down and, as we all know, the sentencing has not even been scheduled yet,” Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One, the presidential plane en route to Italy for the G7 summit.
Pressed by a second journalist, Jean-Pierre reiterated: “I have not spoken to the president about this matter. What I want to say is that the president was asked about a pardon, specifically about the trial and he answered very clearly and frankly.”
The eldest son was convicted in October 2018 of three felony counts related to the illegal purchase and possession of a revolver and faces up to 25 years in prison, although he could receive a lighter sentence such as probation.
As Jean-Pierre noted, a date has not yet been set for Biden’s sentencing in Delaware federal court, but it will likely take place in September or October, shortly after his second federal trial in Los Angeles on charges of evading $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019.
The process is scheduled to begin on September 5th.
Republicans, led by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), responded to the Delaware jury’s quick conviction of Hunter Biden by calling on the Department of Justice to investigate President Biden’s role in overseas dealings benefiting his son and eldest brother, James Biden, including during Joe’s time as vice president.
Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, IRS agents who investigated Hunter Biden for tax evasion and related crimes, alleged last year that the Justice Department waged a massive cover-up to shield the Biden family and thwart efforts to pursue evidence that Joe Biden himself was involved in family dealings with government-sponsored companies in countries where he exerted influence as vice president.
Shapley and Ziegler noted that Hunter Biden was allowed to let the statute of limitations expire on some tax charges and accused Attorney General Merrick Garland of misleading Congress about the independence of Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss’s charges.
Garland elevated Weiss to special counsel in August, allowing him to independently prosecute Hunter outside his home district, after his eldest son, Hunter, reached a plea deal that gave him only probation on tax and gun charges and requested broader immunity for past conduct, including a Foreign Agents Registration Act charge that could implicate his father.
Joe Biden has consistently maintained that he has “never” discussed business with his son or brother, and said in December and March that he “doesn’t interact” with their partners.
Evidence including photographs, emails and witness accounts show that Biden did in fact meet with associates of the sons and brothers of two business companies with ties to the Chinese government, as well as their patrons in Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia and Ukraine, as well as many of their domestic associates.
