President Biden pardons son Hunter over gun and tax charges • New Jersey Monitor

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Sunday night that he has pardoned his son Hunter, a reversal of his longstanding promise that he would not use his executive authority to clear his son of charges related to guns and tax crimes.

“I believe in the justice system,” Biden said in a statement. “But as I have wrestled with this, I also believe that raw politics has infected this process and led to a miscarriage of justice – and having made that decision this weekend, there was no point in delaying it any further.” I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president make this decision.”

Hunter, Biden’s only living son, has been a frequent target of Republicans as they seek to link wide-ranging corruption allegations to the president and his son as part of various investigations. There is no evidence that the president committed any wrongdoing.

“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was singled out simply because he is my son — and that is wrong,” Biden said. “An attempt was made to break Hunter – who has been sober for five and a half years, even in the face of relentless attacks and selective prosecution.”

Hunter Biden’s firearms conviction before a federal jury in June stemmed from lying about a gun purchase in 2018. He checked a box confirming he was not using illegal drugs, but then used drugs while in possession of the firearm. The weapons charges carried a possible prison sentence.

Separately, Hunter Biden also pleaded guilty to federal tax collection in California.

The decision came at the end of a holiday weekend as Biden ends his presidency and President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office in January.

U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, criticized the president’s move, saying he “lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence activities.”

Last updated on December 1, 2024 at 8:56 p.m