United States President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter for tax and firearm-related convictions has sparked criticism from lawmakers and officials, including some within his own Democratic Party.
The Biden administration on Monday defended the announcement, which the president made despite his previous pledge not to pardon his son, on the grounds that Hunter’s persecution was political in nature.
“They [Republicans] would continue to go after his son,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on a flight to Angola on Air Force One, adding that other presidents have also pardoned family members.
At the end of his first term in office, Trump pardoned a number of political allies and donors, including disgraced real estate magnate Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared.
On his last day in office, President Bill Clinton granted a pardon to his half-brother, Roger, who spent a year in prison after he pleaded guilty in 1985 to selling cocaine to an undercover police officer in Arkansas. That pardon was done to clear his criminal record.
The Biden decision has sparked allegations of using power to shield a family member from legal judgements and enforcing a separate standard of justice for those with political connections, potentially tarnishing his legacy.
“This is really sweeping. This is not only for the crimes that he has been convicted of but also ones he has not been charged with,” Al Jazeera correspondent Kimberly Halkett said.
Hunter Biden faced a maximum of 17 years behind bars for the tax charges and up to 25 years in prison for the gun charges although federal sentencing guidelines were expected to result in far less time. He was due to be sentenced this month in the two cases.
Hunter Biden, 54, came under persistent suspicion during his father’s presidency over his foreign business dealings with questions swirling over whether he used his father’s office for personal gain.
Here’s a quick overview of how some lawmakers in both the Democratic and Republican parties have responded to Biden’s decision:
President Biden
“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out because he was my son – and that is wrong. There’s been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective persecution,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday.
“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.”
President-elect Donald Trump
The Republican president-elect – who has previously stated that he will pardon people who took part in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol in an effort to overturn Trump’s loss to Biden in the 2020 election – called the pardon a “miscarriage of justice”.
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” he posted on social media, referring to those prosecuted for assaulting the US Capitol in 2021.
Mike Johnson, Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives
“President Biden insisted many times he would never pardon his own son for his serious crimes. But last night he suddenly granted a “Full and Unconditional Pardon” for any and all offences that Hunter committed for more than a decade!” Johnson said in a social media post.
“Trust in our justice system has been almost irreparably damaged by the Bidens and their use and abuse of it. Real reform cannot begin soon enough!”
Republican Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee
“Democrats said there was nothing to our impeachment inquiry. If that’s the case, why did Joe Biden just issue Hunter Biden a pardon for the very things we were inquiring about?” the congressman asked, referring to Republican impeachment efforts against Biden, which failed in the House.
Republican James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee
“The charges Hunter faced were just the tip of the iceberg in the blatant corruption that President Biden and the Biden Crime Family have lied about to the American people,” the congressman said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability.”
Democrats were not rushing to Biden’s defence on Monday either. Some were openly critical of the pardon:
Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna
“Democrats should have been for reforming and curtailing pardon power from Day 1 of the Biden Presidency. As a father, I empathise with President Biden, but we must be the party of reform whether it’s about the archaic pardon power, opposing super PACs or broad war powers.”
Democrats should have been for reforming and curtailing pardon power from Day 1 of the Biden Presidency. As a father, I empathize with President Biden, but we must be the party of reform whether it’s about the archaic pardon power, opposing super PACs or broad war powers.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) December 2, 2024
Democratic Congressman Greg Stanton
“I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong. This wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”
Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis
“While as a father I certainly understand President Joe Biden’s natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country. This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation.”
