Breaking: Joe Biden Pardons Son, Hunter
Sunday night, President Joe Biden pardoned son, Hunter Biden.
“The president had promised not to pardon Hunter Biden, who was convicted of gun-related charges and had pleaded guilty in a tax case,” The Washington Post reported.
In June, Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felony gun charges in Delaware and faced a maximum of 25 years in prison, according to The Associated Press.
At the time of verdict the president issued a statement, claiming he would respect the court and “continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.”
The younger Biden also pleaded guilty to tax charges in California in September, which carried a sentence of up to 17 years in prison and $1.3 million in fines.
Per NPR, the “case centered on Biden’s failure to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019” while continuing to live an “extravagant lifestyle,” according to prosecutors.
“When it became clear to me that the same prosecutors were focused not on justice but on dehumanizing me for my actions during my addiction, there was only one path left for me,” Hunter Biden said after entering his plea. “I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment. For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty.”
The move from President Biden, which he said was due to his son “being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” came shortly before he was set to depart for Africa, according to the Post.
“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. 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 began his Sunday statement.
“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. 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.
“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. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room — 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.
“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.
“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,” he continued.
“For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: 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.
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” he concluded.
President Biden decided to pardon his son following a family trip to Nantucket, Massachusetts, for Thanksgiving, and came only a day after the lawyers for Hunter Biden released a 52-page paper titled “The political prosecutions of Hunter Biden,” the Post reported.
Per the Post, “[a]ccording to the text of the pardon, it applies to all offenses that Hunter Biden ‘has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.’”
Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced for his felony gun charges on Dec. 4.
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