Joe Biden Pardons Son Hunter, Reversing Earlier Promise

On Sunday, President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, reversing Biden’s previous promises not to use presidential powers to aid his family.

The decision will spare Hunter Biden from potential prison time for federal gun and tax convictions. The sweeping pardon covers offenses between 2014 and 2024.

In 2023, he was convicted of purchasing a firearm while addicted to drugs and pleaded guilty to failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes. His legal team argued these prosecutions were politically motivated, an assertion the president echoed in his statement announcing the pardon. Biden described the legal process as tainted and claimed his son had been unfairly targeted.

“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,” Biden said in a statement. 

According to The Associated Press, in June, Biden had categorically ruled out a pardon for his son, telling reporters that his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”

Republicans swiftly criticized the move. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer called it an effort to “avoid accountability,” while former President Donald Trump, himself no stranger to controversial pardons, denounced the decision as “such an abuse and miscarriage of justice.”

Despite the backlash, Biden defended his actions as both a father and a president. “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,” he said.

Hunter Biden, in turn, expressed gratitude, pledging to use his second chance to help others struggling with addiction.

The pardon caps a tumultuous chapter in Biden’s presidency as he prepares to leave office in January.