December 2, 2024
I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.
President Biden in a statement released by the White House on Sunday, Dec. 1, regarding the “full and unconditional pardon” of his son, Hunter.
Why It Matters: This “full and unconditional pardon” will eliminate any prosecution or penalties of prosecution for potential and/or convicted offenses between January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024, for Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden, 54, was found guilty of multiple felonies related to federal gun charges earlier this year in Delaware; in a separate federal case in California, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion in September. He faced sentencing for both of these cases this month (upwards of 25 years in prison for the gun charges, and possibly 17 years for tax evasion). The sweeping pardon means that the president’s son cannot face any federal charges for any crimes he possibly may have committed over the past decade.
Context: End-of-term presidential pardons of family members are not new (Pres. Trump pardoned his son-in-law’s father and Pres. Clinton pardoned his half-brother); however, Pres. Biden repeatedly said he would not use his presidential powers to pardon his son, who has a troubled past of drug and alcohol addiction. In the president’s statement on December 1st, 2024, he argues his son was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” due to the political environment: “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 – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. 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.”
The Associated Press: “Biden, who time and again pledged to Americans that he would restore norms and respect for the rule of law after Trump’s first term in office, ultimately used his position to help his son, breaking his public pledge to Americans that he would do no such thing.”
Important To Note: No one knows when the investigation into Hunter Biden truly began; some reports suggest it could have started under the Obama administration when President Biden served as VP and Hunter served on the Board of Directors of a Ukrainian oil company. The current charges prosecuted against Hunter Biden emerged during the current Biden administration. Hunter Biden stated publicly in December of 2020 that he was under federal investigation.
Read More: White House Statement
Biden pardons his son Hunter despite previous pledges not to (The Associated Press)
Unpacking the Unusual Hunter Biden Pardon (The Wall Street Journal)
by Jenna Lee, Founder of SmartHER News
