U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, a reversal after pledging to stay out of legal proceedings against the younger Biden who pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges.
"Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. 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," the president said in a statement.
The White House had said repeatedly that Biden would not pardon or commute sentences for Hunter, a recovering drug addict who became a target of Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump.
"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," Biden said in a statement released shortly before leaving for a trip to Africa.
The grant of clemency said Biden had granted "a full and unconditional" pardon to Hunter Biden for any offenses in a window from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.
Hunter Biden faced sentencing for the false statements and gun convictions this month. In September he pleaded guilty to federal charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury items. He was scheduled for sentencing in that case on Dec. 16.
"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," Hunter Biden said in a statement on Sunday, adding he had remained sober for more than five years.
"In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages ... I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering."
Republicans criticized the president's move.
"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!" Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site, referring to those convicted for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after Trump claimed falsely that he had won the 2020 election.
"Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family's corrupt influence peddling activities," said Representative James Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
The president, whose son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, said his opponents had sought to break Hunter with selective prosecution.
He said people were almost never brought to trial for felony charges for how they filled out a gun form, and said others who were late in paying taxes because of addiction but paid them back with interest and penalties, as his son had, typically received non-criminal resolutions to their cases.
"It is clear that Hunter was treated differently. 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," Biden said. "In trying to break Hunter, they've tried to break me – and there's no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough."
In August 2023, lawyers for Hunter Biden said prosecutors had reneged on a plea deal that would have resolved the tax and firearms charges. The president said in his statement on Sunday that the plea deal "would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter's cases."
Biden said he had made his decision to pardon over the weekend. The president, his wife, Jill Biden, and their family including Hunter, spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and returned to Washington on Saturday night.
"Here's the truth: 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 – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further," Biden said.
"I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision."
The U.S. Senate rejected a resolution on Wednesday that would have directed President Donald Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran...
Two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday, killing at least 32 people and injuring 700 after dozens of buildings collapsed into piles of ...
New developments linked to Jeffrey Epstein have brought renewed attention to his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell and billionaire Bill Gates. Maxwel...
An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck Japan's northeast coast on Thursday, but no tsunami warning was issued, no injuries were immediately reported an...
Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top stories for 25 June, covering the latest developments you need to know. ...
The United States is withdrawing 5,000 troops from NATO ally Germany, the Pentagon announced on Friday, as a rift over the Iran war widens between President Donald Trump and Europe.
Joe Biden has undergone a surgical procedure to remove cancerous skin cells and is recovering well, according to NBC News.
During his visit to the migrant detention centre in the Florida Everglades, known as 'Alligator Alcatraz,' U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that former president Joe Biden wanted him imprisoned there.
Russia has called for clarification on whether U.S. President Donald Trump has changed his position on the war in Ukraine following remarks made at the recent G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains.
Israel's defence minister said on Wednesday Israeli troops will not withdraw from southern Lebanon, highlighting a hurdle to Iran-U.S. peace talks, as the top U.S. diplomat tours the Middle East to win over allies sceptical about a proposed deal.
A Ukrainian strike has damaged a school building in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, according to local authorities cited by the TASS news agency. No injuries were reported in the incident.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that Iran had agreed to nuclear inspections into "infinity, despite Tehran's denials, and that unfrozen Iranian assets would be used to buy humanitarian supplies from the United States.
The U.S. Senate rejected a resolution on Wednesday that would have directed President Donald Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress formally authorised military action.
Two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday, killing at least 32 people and injuring 700 after dozens of buildings collapsed into piles of shattered concrete and steel in and around the capital Caracas.
New developments linked to Jeffrey Epstein have brought renewed attention to his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell and billionaire Bill Gates. Maxwell is seeking to overturn her conviction, while Gates testified before Congress about his past interactions with the late financier.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck Japan's northeast coast on Thursday, but no tsunami warning was issued, no injuries were immediately reported and no irregularities were found at nuclear facilities, the authorities said.
Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top stories for 25 June, covering the latest developments you need to know.
A cemetery in the Gaza Strip containing the remains of 22 Canadian soldiers killed during a 1956 United Nations peacekeeping mission has been destroyed, according to media reports citing families of the deceased.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment