President Joe Biden has issued a pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, claiming that he was unfairly prosecuted for political reasons.
In a statement released Sunday, the president argued that his son was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” due to his connection to the Democratic commander-in-chief.
“Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form,” Biden claimed.
“Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.”
Biden's pardon covers not only the gun and tax offenses against Hunter, but also any other “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.”
The elder Biden alleged that “several of my political opponents in Congress instigated” the charges against Hunter and that they contributed to the unraveling of a plea deal in his son’s case.
“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,” he continued.
Republicans, among them U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, denounced Biden's decision to pardon his son, arguing that the president was wrongfully interfering in the legal process.
“I’m shocked Pres Biden pardoned his son Hunter [because] he said many, many times he wouldn’t [and] I believed him. Shame on me,” tweeted Grassley.
In June, Biden claimed he would not pardon Hunter, telling reporters, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him,” The Associated Press reported.
While many Democrats defended Biden’s decision, believing that the prosecution of Hunter was politically motivated, U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., objected to it.
“I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong,” stated the Democrat lawmaker, as quoted by Politico. “This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”
Hunter Biden has been a source of controversy for Joe Biden since before the 2020 presidential election, such as when the New York Post published a report that Hunter Biden had his father meet with an executive from the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma before the elder Biden had pressured officials in Ukraine to fire a prosecutor investigating the company that was paying Hunter.
The NY Post referenced emails from the hard drive of Hunter’s laptop, which had been seized by the FBI and contained embarrassing images of him using drugs and having sex with various women, as well as details of dubious business dealings with communist China.
In June of last year, Hunter pleaded guilty to federal criminal tax charges, as well as one charge of “possession of a firearm by a person who is a user or addict of illegal drugs.”
Chris Clark, a criminal defense lawyer for Hunter, said in a statement last year that “Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.”
However, the deal eventually fell through and in June, a jury in Wilmington, Delaware, found Hunter guilty of "making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm," "making a false statement with respect to information required to be kept in records," and possessing a firearm despite him being "a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance."
