President Biden pardons his son Hunter Biden

Washington
CNN
—

President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he has pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who faced sentencing this month on gun charges and tax convictions.

“Today I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” he said in a statement. It is a “full and unconditional pardon,” according to a copy of the executive clemency request.

This official grant of clemency cannot be revoked by President-elect Donald Trump.

By pardoning his son, Joe Biden broke a public promise he made repeatedly before and after leaving the 2024 presidential campaign. The president and his top White House spokesman have stated unequivocally, even after Trump won the 2024 election, that he would neither pardon Hunter Biden nor commute his sentence.

The pardon means that Hunter Biden will not be convicted for his crimes and eliminates any possibility of him being sent to prison, which would have been entirely possible. Once the judges overseeing his cases are informed of the pardon, they will likely cancel sentencing hearings that were scheduled for Dec. 12 in the gun case and Dec. 16 in the tax case.

Biden said in the statement that he chose the pardon because his son was “selectively and unfairly prosecuted” and said that “Hunter was treated differently” than people who commit similar crimes.

Biden said his political opponents in Congress had “incited” the impeachment to “attack me and oppose my election.”

Hunter Biden was convicted by a jury in June of illegally purchasing and possessing guns after a heartbreaking trial that highlighted his drug abuse and family problems. Then in September, he pleaded guilty to nine tax offenses stemming from $1.4 million in taxes he failed to pay while also spending heavily on escorts, strippers, cars and drugs.

This story is current and will be updated.