US President Joe Biden has officially pardoned his son Hunter, who was awaiting sentencing in two criminal cases, despite earlier ruling out this possibility.
In his statement, the president claimed Hunter had been “singled out” and described the legal proceedings as “a miscarriage of justice.”
Hunter Biden had pleaded guilty to tax charges in September and was convicted in June for illegal possession of a firearm while being a drug user, making him the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a crime.
Reacting to the pardon, President-elect Donald Trump said: “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the [6 January] Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
Trump was referring to his supporters who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in a bid to overturn Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.
Joe Biden’s full and unconditional pardon for his son comes after the president had previously said he would not give him clemency.
Just a couple of months ago, in September, the White House press secretary said that Biden would not issue a pardon for his son.
But on Sunday evening, President Biden said although he believed in the justice system, “politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice”.
“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,” he said.
Biden said he wrestled with the decision, and added: “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,” he said.
In a reaction statement, Hunter Biden said mistakes he made during the darkest days of his addiction had been “exploited to publicly humiliate and shame” his family for political sport.
“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,” the 54-year-old added.
President Biden noted that his son, Hunter, has been sober for five and a half years.
This is not the first instance of a U.S. president pardoning a family member. In 2001, Bill Clinton pardoned his younger half-brother, Roger Clinton, for a 1985 cocaine-related offense.
Similarly, in 2020, Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, who was recently appointed ambassador to France.
Hunter Biden had pleaded guilty to nine counts of federal tax fraud in September, facing a potential 17-year prison sentence.
Additionally, in June, he was convicted of three felonies related to a firearm purchase, which could have resulted in a 25-year sentence. Sentencing was scheduled for December 12 and 16.
Hunter’s legal issues had cast a shadow over his father’s presidential campaign, which concluded in July when President Biden withdrew from the race.
He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate, who later lost to Republican Donald Trump in the November election.
Trump is set to officially assume the presidency from Biden on January 20, 2025—Inauguration Day.