US President Biden pardons his son Hunter in bombshell U-turn

WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden said on Dec 1 he had pardoned his son Hunter Biden, a reversal after pledging to stay out of the legal proceedings against the younger Biden who pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted of firearm-related charges.

“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. 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 in a statement released by the White House.

The White House had said repeatedly that Mr Biden would not pardon or commute the sentences of his son, a recovering drug addict who became a target of Republicans, including US President-elect Donald Trump.

“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,” Mr Biden said in a statement released shortly before leaving for a trip to Africa.

The grant of clemency said Mr Biden had granted “a full and unconditional” pardon to Hunter Biden for any offences in a window from Jan 1, 2014, to Dec 1, 2024.

Hunter Biden faced sentencing for false statements and gun convictions on Dec 4.

In September, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of failing to pay US$1.4 million (S$1.9 million) in taxes while spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury items. He faced sentencing in that case on Dec 16.

“I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” Hunter Biden said in a statement on Dec 1, adding that he had remained sober for more than five years.

“In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages... 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.”

Republicans criticised the President’s move.

“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site, referring to those convicted of storming the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, after Trump falsely claimed that he had won the 2020 election.

“Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence-peddling activities,” said Representative James Comer, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

The President, whose older son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, said his opponents had sought to break Hunter with selective prosecution.

He said people were almost never brought to trial for felony charges over how they filled out a gun form. He also said others who were late in paying taxes because of addiction but paid them back with interest and penalties, as his son had, typically received “non-criminal resolutions” to their cases.

“It is clear that Hunter was treated differently. The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Mr Biden said.

“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.”

In August 2023, lawyers for Hunter Biden said prosecutors had reneged on a plea deal that would have resolved the tax and firearm charges.

The President said in his statement on Dec 1 that the plea deal “would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases”.

Mr Biden said he had made the decision over the weekend. The President; his wife, Dr Jill Biden; and their family, including Hunter, spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and returned to Washington on the night of Nov 30.

Mr Biden did not answer reporters’ questions on the issue when he landed in Cape Verde on Dec 2 for a brief stopover on his way to Angola.

During a walk around Nantucket shops on the afternoon of Nov 29, one supporter shouted at the President from across a street to pardon his son.

“Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further,” he said. “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.” REUTERS