President Biden forgave his son, Hunter Biden, after the first son was convicted in two separate federal cases earlier this year.
The White House announced this on Sunday evening.
“Today I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” Biden wrote in a statement. “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Department of Justice’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I watched my son be selectively and unjustly prosecuted.”
“Without aggravating factors such as use in a crime, multiple purchases or purchasing a gun as a straw buyer, people are almost never charged with a misdemeanor charge solely because of the way they filled out a gun form,” the statement said. “Those who paid their taxes late due to serious addictions, but then paid them back with interest and penalties, typically receive non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.”
BIDEN WILL NOT GIVE HUNTER, WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS, BUT CRITICS ARE NOT SO SURE
Hunter Biden, accompanied by his wife Melissa Cohen Biden, arrives at the federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Hunter Biden, 54, has had a busy year in court. He began his first trial in Delaware in June, facing three firearms charges, before pleading guilty in a separate tax case in September.
President Biden forgives His son is departing from his previous comments to the media over the summer, in which he stated that he would not pardon the first son.
“Yes,” President Biden told ABC News when asked if he would rule out pardoning Hunter ahead of his guilty verdict in the gun case.
Days later, after a jury of Hunter’s colleagues found him guilty of three gun crimes, the president again said he would not pardon his son.
“I’m not going to do anything,” Biden said after Hunter was convicted. ‘I’ll stick to it the jury’s decision.”
In the gun case, Hunter was found guilty of making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement regarding information to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an arms dealer. unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
HUNTER BIDEN FOUND GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES IN ARMS TRIAL
President Biden speaks at the Carpenters Local Union 445 ‘Get Out The Vote’ event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on November 2, 2024. (Photo by Ting Shen/AFP via Getty Images)
Prosecutors have specifically tried to prove that Biden lied on a federal firearms form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018 when he checked a box labeled “No” when asked if he was an unlawful substance user or addict was on controlled substances.
Hunter has a well-documented one history of drug abusewhich was most notably documented in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which walked readers through his previous need to smoke crack cocaine every 20 minutes, how his addiction was so prolific that he called himself a “crack dad” for drug dealers and anecdotes about drug deals, such as a crack dealer Biden from Washington, D.C., nicknamed “Bicycles.”
HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 5 AFTER TESTIMONY OF SISTER-IN-LAW WHO TURNED GIRLFRIEND: ‘PANIC’
Hunter’s attorneys did not dispute the first son’s long history of substance abuse at trial, which included alcohol addiction. The defense instead argued that Biden did not consider himself an active drug addict on the day Biden purchased the Cobra Colt .38, citing the first son’s time in rehab prior to the October 2018 purchase .
However, prosecutors argued that Biden was addicted to crack cocaine before, during and after he bought the gun. Just one day after purchasing the gun, prosecutors showed the court that Biden had texted Hallie Biden, his sister-in-law-turned-girlfriend, to say he was “waiting for a dealer named Mookie.” A day after that text, he texted that he was “sleeping in a car smoking crack.” 4th Street and Rodney” in Wilmington.
Hunter Biden, Melissa Cohen Biden (right) and first lady Jill Biden leave federal court after the jury found him guilty on all three counts in his trial on criminal gun charges, in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 11, 2024. (REUTERS/Hannah Beier)
A jury deliberated for about three hours over two days before finding Hunter guilty of each charge.
Hunter was scheduled to be sentenced on November 13, but that was postponed until December before his father intervened.
After President Biden withdrew from the presidential race in July amid mounting concerns about his mental acuity and age, Hunter faced another trial on three tax crimes and six tax crimes related to his failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.
While jury selection was about to start Los Angeles Federal CourtHunter entered a surprising guilty plea.
HUNTER BIDEN PLEDGES GUILTY TO ALL NINE FEDERAL TAX CHARGES FILED BY SPECIAL ADVISOR DAVID WEISS
“I will not subject my family to any more pain, more invasions of privacy and unnecessary embarrassment,” Hunter said in an emailed statement at the time. “Despite everything I’ve done to them over the years, I can spare them this, and that’s why I’ve decided to plead guilty.”
A court sketch shows Hunter Biden’s federal trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday, June 10, 2024. (William J. Hennessy Jr.)
The charge carried up to 17 years behind bars, but the first son likely would have received a much shorter sentence under federal sentencing guidelines. His sentencing was scheduled for December 16.
Ahead of the president’s decision to pardon his son, newly elected President Donald Trump said during his campaign that he consider pardoning Hunter as victorious on November 5.
Former President Donald Trump is pictured at an election night watch party on Wednesday, November 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP/Alex Brandon)
“I wouldn’t take it off the books,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt in October. “Look, unlike Joe Biden, despite what they did to me, where they came after me so viciously… And Hunter is a bad boy.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“There’s no doubt about it. He has been a bad boy,” Trump continued. “But I happen to think it’s very bad for our country.”
