In a surprising move, President Joe Biden has issued a full and unconditional pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, who faced convictions for felony gun charges and tax evasion earlier this year. This decision, announced just weeks before Hunter Biden’s sentencing hearings, marks a significant reversal of the president’s earlier commitment not to use his executive powers in his son’s legal matters.
The pardon applies to all federal crimes Hunter Biden may have committed between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024, effectively nullifying the scheduled court proceedings for December. This includes allegations tied to Hunter Biden’s controversial stint on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, which had already been a focal point of political scrutiny.
In a statement issued Sunday night, President Biden explained his reasoning: “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. Once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further.”
President Biden announces he has pardoned his son Hunter Biden:
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.” pic.twitter.com/2KkFFVWQUU
— Pop Base (@PopBase) December 2, 2024
Hunter Biden’s legal battles, which began with a federal investigation in 2020, garnered widespread attention. In June, he was convicted of falsifying information to purchase a firearm while struggling with drug addiction. By September, he had pleaded guilty to charges of failing to pay over $1.4 million in taxes, admitting to misusing his income on personal indulgences, including escorts, luxury cars, and drugs.
The legal probes, initiated in 2018 under then-U.S. Attorney David Weiss, were widely criticized by Hunter Biden’s defense team as politically motivated, a sentiment echoed in the president’s pardon announcement.
I actually love that President Biden has made the decision to pardon his son Hunter. We all know that if Hunter had a different last name he would never have been charged in the first place. pic.twitter.com/TKwiuyEfrQ
— Tonya Bailey (@tbailey1976) December 2, 2024
“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,” Biden stated, adding that he believes his political opponents orchestrated these charges to harm his presidency.
The pardon announcement has sparked intense debate. While Hunter Biden’s five years of sobriety and personal recovery were cited as factors in the decision, critics, including former President Donald Trump, have condemned it as an abuse of power. Trump, on his Truth Social platform, referred to the pardon as a “miscarriage of justice” and compared it to the handling of January 6-related cases.
As the political fallout unfolds, President Biden stands firm, hoping that Americans will empathize with his role as both a leader and a father.
If you’re upset about President Biden pardoning his son Hunter, wait until I tell you about the time Trump pardoned his son in law’s hooker hiring daddy and made him ambassador to France.
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) December 2, 2024
Hunter Biden in the White House tonight after his dad pardoned him: https://t.co/UeBjx0hzpk pic.twitter.com/NDC7whvifO
— Michael (@LegacyKillaHD) December 2, 2024