US President Joe Biden on Sunday issued an official pardon for his son Hunter, who was facing sentencing for two criminal cases, despite assurances that he would not intervene in his legal troubles.
“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,” the president said in a statement.
The move is sure to bring about fresh scrutiny over the independence of the US judicial system — especially at a time when US president-elect Donald Trump has moved to appoint loyalists to the FBI and US Department of Justice.
Photo: AFP
The younger Biden was convicted earlier this year of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun — a felony — and has also pleaded guilty in a separate tax evasion trial, but had not faced sentencing.
Joe Biden, who is in the final weeks of his presidency before Trump takes office on Jan. 20, had repeatedly said he would not pardon his son.
“I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” Joe Biden said in a statement. “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”
The pardon comes as criminal cases against Trump have stalled after a sweeping ruling on presidential immunity by the US Supreme Court — all but ensuring Biden’s Republican rival would likely never see a jail cell, even after his landmark conviction in May for falsifying business records.
US presidents have previously used pardons to help family members and other political allies.
Former US president Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother for old cocaine charges and Trump pardoned the father of his son-in-law for tax evasion, although in both cases those men had already served their prison terms.
Trump has vowed to pardon supporters who stormed the US Capitol in a deadly riot on Jan. 6, 2021, in a bid to reverse his 2020 election loss.
He referenced them in a social media post late on Sunday, writing: “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in a tax evasion trial in September, facing up to 17 years in prison. For the separate gun charge, he was facing 25 years in prison.
His lawyers have said he was only being brought before the court because he is the son of the president.
Hunter has paid the back taxes, as well as penalties levied by authorities, and previously reached a plea deal that would have kept him out of jail — but that agreement fell apart at the last minute.
In a statement to US media, Hunter Biden, who has grappled with drug addiction, said he would “devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”
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