President Joe Biden pardons son Hunter after vowing not to

Hunter Biden was convicted earlier this year on federal gun and tax charges. Biden’s pardon comes just weeks before his son was set to appear for sentencing hearings in Delaware and California, where he faced the potential of lengthy prison sentences.

President Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on Sunday, wiping away his criminal convictions on tax and gun charges despite saying earlier this year he wouldn’t grant such a reprieve.

Biden’s pardon, a decision he made over the Thanksgiving weekend, came just weeks before his son was set to appear for sentencing hearings in Delaware and California, where he faced the potential of lengthy prison sentences.

In a statement, the president said it was clear his son had been “treated differently” by the Justice Department and “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,” Biden said.

“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.”

In Delaware, the younger Biden was found guilty earlier this year on charges he lied about his drug use on a federal form he completed as part of a 2018 gun purchase. Three months later, just as his trial on tax charges was set to begin in Los Angeles, he pleaded guilty to the offenses, in a surprise move that headed off a legal proceeding that was set to feature evidence of the president’s son spending lavishly while failing to pay what he owed to the government.

Hunter Biden in a statement said he has “admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction -- mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport.”

“I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering,” he said.

For the elder Biden, the pardon represents a remarkable about-face, albeit one even current and former aides expected in the waning weeks of his White House tenure.

Hunter Biden spent Thanksgiving with his father on Nantucket, where the two were seen lunching together and walking through the island’s downtown. On Saturday evening, Biden attended Catholic Mass with Hunter and the president’s daughter, Ashley, along with Hunter’s young son, Beau. Hunter Biden returned to Washington aboard Air Force One on Saturday night.

Emails and other records related to Hunter Biden’s various overseas deals came to light when they were discovered on his abandoned laptop and reported by The New York Post.

The president said that once he made the pardon decision over the 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. ”

Biden and his advisers had repeatedly said earlier this year that Hunter wouldn’t receive a pardon. In June, when a jury found his son guilty on gun charges, Biden said he wouldn’t pardon him. And as recently as last month, with his sentencing hearings drawing near, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed an inquiry about whether a pardon was coming.

“We’ve been asked that question multiple times,” she answered. “Our answer stands, which is no.”

The Wall Street Journal