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President Biden issues pardon to son Hunter on gun and tax charges

2 December 2024 at 16:15

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden talks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 13, 2023. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON β€” President Joe Biden Sunday night announced he has pardoned his son Hunter, a reversal in his long-standing pledge that he would not exert his executive authority to clear his son of gun-related charges and tax crimes.

β€œI believe in the justice system,” Biden said in a statement. β€œBut as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice β€” and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”

Hunter, who is Biden’s only living son, was a frequent target of Republicans, who, through various investigations, sought to link broad corruption charges to the president and his son. No evidence has shown any wrongdoing by the president.

β€œNo 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 β€” and that is wrong,” Biden said. β€œThere has been an effort to break Hunter β€” who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution.”

Hunter Biden’sΒ gun conviction before a federal jury in June stemmed from lying on a gun purchase in 2018. He checked a box that affirmed he was not using illegal drugs, but he did then use drugs while owning the firearm. The gun charges carried a possible prison sentence.

Separately, Hunter Biden also pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in California.

The decision came at the end of a holiday weekend and as Biden is winding down his presidency and President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office in January.

U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, blasted the move by the president, saying he hasΒ β€œlied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities.”

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