President Biden issues pardon to son Hunter on gun and tax charges

Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom

This article was originally published by States Newsroom.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Joe Biden Sunday night announced he has pardoned his son Hunter, a reversal in his long-standing pledge that he would not exert his executive authority to clear his son of gun-related charges and tax crimes.

“I believe in the justice system,” Biden said in a statement. “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. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”

Hunter, who is Biden’s only living son, was a frequent target of Republicans, who, through various investigations, sought to link broad corruption charges to the president and his son. No evidence has shown any wrongdoing by the president.

“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 said. “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.”

Hunter Biden’s gun conviction before a federal jury in June stemmed from lying on a gun purchase in 2018. He checked a box that affirmed he was not using illegal drugs, but he did then use drugs while owning the firearm. The gun charges carried a possible prison sentence.

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

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

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

Ariana Figueroa covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.