In a dramatic Sunday night announcement that sent shockwaves through Washington, President Joe Biden issued a presidential pardon for his son Hunter, reversing his previous stance and igniting fresh controversy over the high-profile case.
The surprise decision comes mere months after both the President and White House officials repeatedly insisted no pardon would be forthcoming, NBC News reported.
Biden, who had emphatically stated in June that he would “not pardon” his son, defended his reversal by claiming Hunter had been “selectively” and “unfairly” targeted by prosecutors.
“From the day I took office, 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,” Biden declared in an emotional statement that highlighted both his roles as president and father.
X users were quick to poke holes in this statement, unearthing one of many old posts from the president regarding her then-stance on Hunter and the justice system as a whole.
“No one is above the law,” Biden said in a May 31, 2024 post on X.
The post has since been slapped with a blistering community note that explains “Biden granted a full and unconditional pardon to his son, Hunter, on December 1, 2024. Hunter was convicted of multiple felonies but will now go unpunished.”
Daily Mail reported that the pardon covers Hunter Biden’s federal gun charges and tax fraud cases, for which he was facing potential prison sentences totaling up to 42 years.
Hunter had been scheduled for sentencing on December 13 in Delaware for the gun case and December 16 in California for tax-related charges.
In his own statement, released under his full name “Robert Hunter Biden,” the president’s son acknowledged his past struggles while emphasizing his ongoing recovery.
“I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” he stated, highlighting his five years of sobriety.
The White House’s announcement prompted swift reaction from former President Donald Trump’s team, per Daily Mail.
While Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung criticized what he called a “Democrat-controlled justice system,” Trump himself took to Truth Social to question whether similar pardons would be extended to January 6 defendants.
“I wouldn’t take it off the books,” Trump recently told an interviewer, as highlighted by Daily Mail.
“See, unlike Joe Biden, despite what they’ve done to me, where they’ve gone after me so viciously, despite what – and Hunter’s a bad boy.”
“There’s no question about it. He’s been a bad boy,” the president-elect continued.
“All you had to do is see the laptop from hell. But I happen to think it’s very bad for our country.”
The pardon represents a significant shift in the Biden administration’s handling of Hunter’s legal troubles.
The President had previously maintained a strict position of non-interference with Justice Department matters, even as his son faced mounting legal challenges.
The elder Biden defended his change of heart by arguing that “raw politics has infected this process,” per Daily Mail.
The outlet further noted that Hunter’s legal team, led by attorney Abbe Lowell, had increasingly framed the prosecution as politically motivated, describing it as a “seven-year saga propelled by an unrelenting political desire to use a son to hurt his father.”
The timing of the announcement, just weeks before Hunter’s scheduled sentencing dates, adds another layer of controversy to a case that has already drawn intense scrutiny from both sides of the political aisle.
Daily Mail outlined that the president’s decision to exercise his Constitutional pardon power in this instance joins a long history of controversial presidential pardons, including those issued by previous administrations for family members and close associates.
