Didn’t Biden say he would not pardon his son?
Yes. Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation since 2020. He reached a deal with federal prosecutors and was supposed to plead guilty last year to misdemeanour tax offences and would have avoided prosecution in the gun case as long he stayed out of trouble for two years.
But the plea hearing quickly unravelled when the judge raised concerns about unusual aspects of the deal. He was subsequently indicted in the two cases, and he has claimed that he was singled out because he is the president’s son.
The president told reporters earlier this summer that he would not pardon his son.
“I’m extremely proud of my son Hunter. He has overcome an addiction. He is one of the brightest, most decent men I know,” he said. “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said as recently as Nov 8 that Biden would not pardon his son.
Why did Biden break his promise?
In his statement Sunday, Biden said that his son had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.” Biden has been concerned – as Hunter Biden was – about his political adversaries.
Also, the president is no longer running for office. He made his no-pardon pledge before he dropped out of the presidential race in June.
In his statement, the president said it was clear that his son was treated differently from other defendants in similar predicaments. The plea deal unravelled and Biden’s political opponents took credit for pressuring the process, he said.
“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.”
Have other presidents pardoned their family members or friends?
Yes. In his final weeks in office, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner. He also pardoned multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Trump over the weekend announced plans to nominate the elder Kushner to be the US envoy to France in his next administration.
President Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother Roger Clinton in 2001, after he had completed a prison term for drug charges. Clinton also pardoned his former business partner Susan McDougal, who had been sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the Whitewater real estate deal.
