President Biden on Sunday issued a “full and unconditional” pardon to his son Hunter, who was convicted of buying an illegal gun in Delaware and pleaded guilty to tax charges in Los Angeles.
Biden and his staff have said repeatedly and publicly that they will not pardon Hunter. But with less than two months left in office and President-elect Donald Trump publicly calling for the prosecution of his political enemies, Biden has reconsidered.
In explaining the controversial and surprising action, which came just weeks before the president's son was sentenced by federal judges in both chambers, Biden said Hunter was the victim of an unfair political attack.
“The charges against him came only after many of my political opponents in Congress encouraged them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said in a statement released Sunday.
“No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter's charges would come to any other conclusion than that Hunter was only nominated because he is my son – and that is wrong,” he continued in the statement.
“There was an attempt to break Hunter — who has not eaten for five and a half years, even in the face of relentless attacks and special persecution. In trying to break Hunter, they tried to break me — and there's no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”
Republicans criticized the move, and Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, accused the president of lying “from start to finish about his family's nefarious influence in the business world.”
“He lied again when he said he would not forgive Hunter Biden,” Comer said in a statement.
“Torture and Miscarriage of Justice!” Trump said in a Social Truth post.
President Biden said he reached the decision after spending the Thanksgiving holiday with his son and other family members in Nantucket.
The pardon covers crimes Hunter Biden “may have committed or participated in” from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024. Successfully dismissed two pending criminal cases in which the younger Biden faced a combined minority. years in prison, although he would probably only serve a few years, at least.
But the pardon also provides immunity for other conduct during that time, when he was busy with foreign business, including his seat on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas company he joined in 2014 when his father was vice president.
Hunter Biden was paid millions by this company. He denies any wrongdoing.
David Weiss, the special counsel whose office brought both cases against Hunter Biden, did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Late Sunday, Hunter Biden's attorneys filed pardon notices in federal court, saying both charges now stand firm and that the pardon “requires the automatic dismissal” of each.
“I will never take for granted the mercy I have been given today and I will dedicate the life I have rebuilt to help those who are still sick and suffering,” Hunter Biden said in a statement.
In June, Hunter Biden was convicted of three gun charges, including lying that he was drug-free when he made a purchase and that he had a gun while addicted to cocaine.
The verdict capped a week-long trial in which prosecutors received testimony from Biden's ex-wife, ex-girlfriend and sister-in-law-turned-lover. All spoke in vivid detail about his drug and alcohol addiction, with First Lady Jill Biden often front and center.
Shortly before the start of testimony, President Biden told ABC reporter David Muir that he would accept the jury's decision in the Delaware case.
“Have you granted amnesty for your son?” Muir asked.
“Yes,” Biden replied.
After the verdict, the president said he would continue to “respect the judicial process” while his son considered an appeal.
In September, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to all nine federal tax charges against him, just as jury selection was about to begin in Los Angeles city court.
The indictment filed in the tax case includes painful details of Biden's life between 2016 and 2019 – a period in which he now admits he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes – including hundreds of thousands of dollars he spent on an escort, a sex photograph. website, hotels, luxury car rental and other luxury personal expenses.
As part of his plea, Biden admitted that he improperly classified his expenses as business expenses.
In both cases, Hunter Biden and his legal team wanted to paint themselves as the victim of a selective, unfair, and politically motivated prosecution. His lawyers pointed to a plea deal that was reached in 2023 and would have spared Hunter any prison time. It came under questioning from a judge in Delaware, and after the deal collapsed, Weiss, the special counsel, found guilty in both cases.
The President spoke about the end of the plea agreement in his statement on Sunday.
“If an agreement had been reached, it would have been a fair and reasonable resolution of Hunter's charges,” said Biden. On the contrary, he said that politics has corrupted his son's cases. “I believe in the justice system, but as I grappled with this, I believe that green politics has infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice – and when I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further.”
Hunter's attorneys tried to have both criminal charges dismissed, arguing that the charges were considered special and unfair prosecutions, but no judge was swayed.
Hunter Biden now lives in Malibu, where he practices the ritual of painting every day.
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