Joe Biden Pardons Son Hunter on Gun and Tax Charges, Says He Was ‘Singled Out’ and ‘Unfairly Prosecuted’ Hunter faced up to a collective 42 years in prison for his illegal gun possession and tax charges

Joe Biden Pardons Son Hunter on Gun and Tax Charges, Says He Was ‘Singled Out’ and ‘Unfairly Prosecuted’
Hunter faced up to a collective 42 years in prison for his illegal gun possession and tax charges

On Sunday, Dec. 1, the president, 82, announced in a statement that he would be pardoning Hunter, 54, writing, “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 — and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further.”

“From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” Biden continued.

“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,” the president wrote. “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.”

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Hunter Biden (L) and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden attend the World Food Program USA’s Annual McGovern-Dole Leadership Award Ceremony at Organization of American States on April 12, 2016
Hunter Biden and Joe Biden in 2016. Teresa Kroeger/Getty
The pardon is expected to apply to Hunter’s federal firearm case and his nine tax charges. In his gun case, a Delaware jury found him guilty of three charges related to how he unlawfully obtained and possessed a gun in 2018 while addicted to narcotics in July. In September, Hunter offered to plead guilty to the tax charges, which allege that he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes, instead spending the money on “an extravagant lifestyle,” including expensive hotels and cars, drugs and more.

“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” the president wrote Sunday. “Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the courtroom — with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process.”

“Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases,” Biden continued.

Hunter told the Associated Press in an emailed statement on Sunday that he would not take the pardon lightly and now hopes to dedicate his life “to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”

“I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction — mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” Hunter said.

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After his June conviction in the gun trial, Hunter became the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of crimes. The gun charges carry up to 25 years in prison and $750,000 in fines, and the tax charges carry up to 17 years behind bars. Hunter was set to be sentenced later this year in the gun case.

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“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 continued in his statement on Sunday. “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. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”

This marks a significant reversal for Biden, who previously said he would not use his presidential power to pardon his son, telling members of the press repeatedly that he would respect the outcome of each case.

“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” Biden concluded his statement.