President Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden earlier this year after he was convicted in two separate federal cases.
The announcement was made by the White House on Sunday night.
“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” Biden said in a statement. “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere in the decision-making of the Department of Justice, and I kept that promise even as I watched my son be selectively and unfairly prosecuted.”
“Absent aggravating factors such as use in a crime, multiple purchases, or purchasing a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are rarely tried for felonies solely because of the way they filled out a gun application.” the statement added. “Non-criminal resolutions are typically available for people who missed paying their taxes due to severe addiction, but then repaid them with interest and penalties. It's clear Hunter was treated differently. ”
Biden won't spare Hunter, White House reaffirms, but critics aren't so sure
Hunter Biden, accompanied by his wife Melissa Cohen Biden, arrives at a federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Hunter Biden, 54, has had a busy year in the courtroom, starting his first trial in June facing three felony firearms charges in Delaware and pleading guilty to another felony tax case in September. I admitted it.
President Biden's decision to pardon his son is a departure from his previous statements to the media over the summer that he would not pardon his eldest son.
“Yes,” President Biden told ABC News when asked if he would rule out pardoning Hunter ahead of his conviction in the gun case.
Days later, after a jury of Hunter's peers found him guilty of three felony firearms crimes, the president again said he would not pardon his son.
After Hunter was convicted, Biden said, “I'm not going to do anything.” “I will abide by the jury's decision.”
In this gun case, Hunter was charged with making a false statement when purchasing a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be maintained by a federally licensed gun dealer, and making a false statement to a qualified person. was found guilty of possession of a firearm. Illegal users or addicts of controlled substances.
Hunter Biden convicted on all charges in gun trial
President Biden speaks at Carpenters Local Union 445's “Get Out The Vote” event in Scranton, Pennsylvania on November 2, 2024. (Photo by Ting Shen/AFP via Getty Images)
Specifically, prosecutors said Biden checked a box that said “no” on a federal firearms notification known as ATF Form 4473 in October 2018, asking whether he was an illegal drug user or addicted to a controlled substance. , worked to prove that he had lied.
Hunter has a well-documented history of drug abuse, most prominently chronicled in her 2021 memoir Beautiful Things, in which she reveals that in the past she used crack cracks every 20 minutes. – Explains to the reader about his past of having to smoke cocaine and mentions how heavy his addiction was. He calls himself a “crack daddy” to drug dealers, and there are also anecdotes centered around drug dealing, such as Biden's nickname for crack dealers in Washington, D.C., being “Bicycles.”
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During the trial, Hunter's lawyers did not dispute the eldest son's long history of drug abuse, including alcoholism. Rather, the defense argued that on the day Biden purchased the Cobra Colt .38, Biden described himself as an active drug addict, citing the fact that his oldest son had entered a rehab facility before purchasing the Cobra Colt .38 in October 2018. claimed not to have thought about it.
But prosecutors argued that Biden was addicted to crack cocaine before, during and after purchasing the gun. Just one day after the gun purchase, prosecutors revealed in court that Biden texted his sister-in-law and now girlfriend Harry Biden that he was “waiting for a dealer named Mookie.” . The day after that message, he texted that he was “sleeping in the car smoking area on 4th Avenue with Rodney” in Wilmington.
Hunter Biden, Melissa Cohen Biden (right), and Melissa Cohen Biden (right) leave federal court after a jury found them guilty on all three charges in their criminal firearms trial on June 11, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. and First Lady Jill Biden. (Reuters/Hannah Baier)
The jury found Hunter guilty on each charge after deliberating for about three hours over two days.
Hunter's sentencing was scheduled for November 13, but the sentence was postponed until December until his father intervened.
Hunter faces a new trial on three felonies and six misdemeanors for failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes after President Biden withdrew from the presidential race in July amid growing concerns about his mental acuity and age. faced.
Hunter made the surprise guilty plea as jury selection was about to begin in Los Angeles federal court.
Hunter Biden pleads guilty to all nine federal tax charges filed by Special Counsel David Weiss
“I do not want to subject my family to any further pain, invasion of privacy or unnecessary embarrassment,” Hunter said in an emailed statement at the time. “After all the torment I've put them through for years, I can spare them this. That's why I've decided to plead guilty.”
A courtroom sketch depicts the federal trial of Hunter Biden on Monday, June 10, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (William J. Hennessy Jr.)
The charge carried a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison, but the eldest son likely received a shorter sentence under federal sentencing guidelines. His sentencing was scheduled for December 16th.
Prior to the president's decision to pardon his son, President-elect Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he would consider pardoning Hunter if he wins on November 5th.
Former President Donald Trump is pictured attending an election night watch party on Wednesday, November 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP/Alex Brandon)
“I don't want to take it off the books,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt in October. “You know, unlike Joe Biden, where did they go after me so hard despite what they did to me? … And Hunter is a bad boy.”
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“There's no question about it. He was a bad guy,” Trump continued. “But I happen to think that's a very bad thing for our country.”
