Biden says he is pardoning his son, Hunter Biden

The White House had said repeatedly that Biden would not pardon or commute the sentences of his son.

By REUTERS DECEMBER 2, 2024 02:43 Updated: DECEMBER 2, 2024 03:02

U.S. President Joe Biden, accompanied by Hunter Biden and Beau Jr., walks out of a bookstore in downtown Nantucket, Massachusetts, U.S., November 29, 2024. (photo credit: Craig Hudson/Reuters)

US President Joe Biden said on Sunday he had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of making false statements on a gun background check and illegally possessing a firearm and pleaded guilty to federal tax charges.

"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," he said in a statement released by the White House.

The White House had said repeatedly that Biden would not pardon or commute the sentences of his son, who was recovering from drug addiction and became a target of Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump.

'Singled out only because he is my son'

"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," Biden said.

"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."

Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, listens to his attorney, Abbe Lowell, as they depart following a surprise appearance at a House Oversight Committee markup and meeting to vote on whether to hold Biden in contempt of Congress for failing to respond to a request to testify to the House (credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)

Biden said he had made the decision over the weekend. The president, his wife, Jill Biden, and their family, including Hunter, spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and returned to Washington on Saturday night.

"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," Biden said.

"I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision."