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President Joe Biden announced the pardon on Sunday.
By Melanie Sun
12/1/2024 Updated: 12/2/2024
President Joe Biden said on Dec. 1 that he has signed “a full and
unconditional pardon” for his son, Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden was charged with nine counts of federal tax evasion to
the sum of $1.4 million between 2016 and 2019. He pleaded guilty to
the tax charges in September after a previously negotiated plea deal
fell through.
He was facing up to 17 years in prison and $1.3 million in fines, with
sentencing scheduled in California for Dec. 16.
In a separate case, Hunter Biden was convicted by a jury of illegally
purchasing a firearm in 2018 while using drugs, and lying about the
drug use at the time of purchase. He illegally possessed the gun for 11
days. He was facing up to 25 years for the three counts, and was
scheduled to be sentenced in Delaware on Dec. 4.
The pardon identified these two cases as well as any offenses that
Hunter Biden “committed or may have committed or taken part in
during the period from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024.
With the pardon, Hunter Biden will be forgiven for any federal crimes
and their associated legal penalties.
“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” President Biden, who
leaves office on Jan. 20, 2025, said in a statement released by the
White House. “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.”
The decision marks an about-turn for President Biden, who had
previously promised not to use his extraordinary presidential powers
to benefit his family members.
“I will do that and I will not pardon him,” the president said.
Hunter Biden said in his memoir and public statements that he was
addicted to drugs for years but became sober in 2019.
“As I have stated, addiction is not an excuse, but it is an explanation
for some of my failures at issue in this case,” he said at the time of
sentencing. “When I was addicted, I wasn’t thinking about my taxes, I
was thinking about surviving. But the jury would never have heard
that or know that I had paid every penny of my back taxes including
penalties.”
Prosecutors stated that bank records from between 2016 and 2019
show that Hunter Biden earned $7 million from his work with
Ukrainian-based Burisma Holdings and other firms. Political
opponents of former Vice President Biden alleged potential conflicts of
interest, particularly after Tony Bobulinski accused Biden of
benefiting from his son’s business dealings in Ukraine while he was
vice president.
The House voted against impeaching Biden in September 2023 after
the GOP led an inquiry into Bobulinski’s claims.
Biden said on Dec. 1 it is his view that the charges against his son
were the result of the actions of his political opponents in Congress in
order to attack him and deter Americans from supporting him in the
2020 election.
The president said that the carefully negotiated plea deal for his son’s
tax fraud case had ultimately failed due to political pressure from his
opponents on the legal process.
“Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable
resolution of Hunter’s cases,” he said in the statement announcing the
12/3/24, 5:30 PM
“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 said. “Enough is enough.”
Biden added, “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.”
Zachary Stieber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Melanie Sun
Author
Melanie is a reporter and editor covering world news. She has a background in
environmental research.
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