A Father’s Controversial Mercy: Joe Biden Pardons His Son Hunter Before Sentencing
Picture courtesy: NBC News.
(The Post News)- President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is scheduled to face sentencing for federal gun charges and tax evasion convictions this month. On the 1st of December, in a formal statement released by the White House, President Joe Biden granted a pardon to his son. The decision marks a reversal for the president, who had previously pledged not to interfere with the Justice Department’s legal proceedings involving his son.
Hunter Biden, who has been the subject of intense scrutiny and a series of legal battles, was set to be sentenced on December 12 for charges related to unlawfully owning a firearm while being a drug user. Four days later, on December 16, he was scheduled to face sentencing in a separate case for federal tax evasion, to which he had pleaded guilty in September.
The legal troubles of Hunter Biden have been a focal point for critics of the Biden administration. In the gun case, as reported by USA Today, Hunter faced charges related to false statements on a federal firearm purchase form. Prosecutors argued that he failed to disclose his drug use at the time of the purchase, which is required by law. In the tax case, in September, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine tax offenses, including failing to pay at least $1.4 million in federal income taxes between 2016 and 2019, USA reports.
A senior White House official told NBC News, which first reported the pardon decision, that President Biden made his decision over the weekend and began informing senior aides on Sunday. The official described the pardon as a deeply personal decision for the president, driven by what he saw as an unjust process that unfairly singled out his son.
President Biden expressed frustration with what he called selective and politically motivated prosecution in the released statement. Biden noted that without aggravating conditions like usage in a crime, numerous purchases, or purchasing a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are nearly never brought to trial on felony charges purely because of how they filled out a gun form. He argued that Hunter’s tax case, too, had been treated differently from similar cases involving others.
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