President Biden Pardons Hunter’s Son, Citing ‘Miscarriage of Justice’ – Essence

President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who was scheduled to be sentenced this month on gun possession and tax convictions.

“Today I signed a pardon for my son Hunter” – President Biden said in an announcement, he described the prosecution as “selective and unfair.” He noted that Hunter faces charges that should not typically brought against others in similar circumstances.

By taking this step, Biden is reversing a public promise he made repeatedly, each before and after withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race, that he wouldn’t pardon his son or commute his sentence. Even after Trump’s victory, the president and his top White House advisers insisted that Biden wouldn’t pardon Hunter.

The pardon ensures that Hunter Biden won’t face sentencing and effectively eliminates the chance of prison time. As a result, judges presiding over his cases are expected to cancel sentencing hearings previously scheduled for Dec. 12 in gun cases and Dec. 16 in tax cases.

This pardon can’t be revoked by President-elect Donald Trump, who has repeatedly called for Hunter to be prosecuted, especially for his foreign business contacts.

The pardon covers any potential federal crimes Hunter Biden could have committed between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2024, CNN reports. This period covers specifically his entire term on the management board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, a period during which his foreign business contacts were the topic of intense scrutiny.

In June, Hunter Biden was convicted by a jury of illegally purchasing and possessing firearms following a highly publicized trial that exposed details of his struggles with drug addiction and family problems, based on CNN. In September, he pleaded guilty to nine tax offenses involving $1.4 million in unpaid taxes, which coincided with extravagant spending on escorts, strippers, luxury vehicles and medicines.

“I have owned up to and taken responsibility for the mistakes I made during the darkest days of my addiction,” Hunter said in an announcement Sunday. He added: “I will never take the grace I have received today for granted and will devote my rebuilt life to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”

Joe Biden said the choice to grant a pardon was difficult but obligatory. “I believe in the justice system,” he said, “but as I grapple with this issue, I also believe that heavy-handed politics has infected the process and led to miscarriages of justice.” He described the allegations as part of an attempt by his political opponents to attack him and his family.

President Biden pointed to his son’s five and a half years of sobriety and resilience within the face of what he called “relentless attacks and selective persecution.”

While critics have lashed out on the president’s change in his public stance, Biden expressed hope that Americans will understand his alternative. “I hope Americans understand why the father and the president made this decision,” he said.

The Biden family spent Thanksgiving together in Nantucket, where father and son were seen lighting a Christmas tree and going to mass. The pardon closes a chapter that presents a formidable challenge for the Bidens, highlighting the intersection of family, justice and politics in a single of essentially the most high-profile cases of Biden’s presidency.