‘Miscarriage of Justice’: President Biden Pardons Son Hunter Biden in Surprise Announcement Despite Repeatedly Saying He Wouldn’t

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on his conviction and his guilty plea related to gun charges, in a surprise announcement released on Sunday night. (See full text below.)

NBC News was the first to break the news that the president was planning to pardon his son on his gun charges on Sunday, and the official announcement followed just minutes later.

In the statement, Biden evoked claims of so-called “weaponization,” saying that he “kept his word” on not interfering with the Justice Department as they “selectively, and unfairly” investigated and prosecuted his son.

The pardon will cover both his conviction on federal gun charges, for which he was to be sentenced on December 12, and his federal tax evasion charges, to which he pled guilty and was facing sentencing on December 16.

“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” said Biden.

He claimed that “raw politics has infected this process” and said it led to a “miscarriage of justice.”

“Once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further,” Biden explained in his comments.

Read the full statement from President Joe Biden and the full text of the pardon below.

ANNOUNCEMENT
Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. 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. Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form. Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.

The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.

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. 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. 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.

For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: 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.

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GRANT OF CLEMENCY

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Executive Grant of Clemency
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President of the United States of America

To All to Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greeting:

Be It Known, That This Day, I, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States, Pursuant to My Powers Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Constitution, Have Granted Unto

ROBERT HUNTER BIDEN

A Full and Unconditional Pardon

For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss in Docket No. 1:23-cr-00061-MN in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and Docket No. 2:23-CR-00599-MCS-1 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto signed my name and caused the Pardon to be recorded with the Department of Justice.

Done at the City of Washington this 1st day of December in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States the Two Hundred and Forty-ninth.

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