US President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, avoiding potential prison time for gun and tax convictions. The decision reverses Biden‘s past pledge not to use presidential powers for family benefit. The move comes weeks before sentencing and amid President-elect Trump’s impending White House return.
Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced for his conviction on federal gun charges on 12 December. He was scheduled to be sentenced in the tax case four days later.
In the statement, Joe Biden said that he had long maintained that he 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”.
But, he argued, “it is clear that Hunter was treated differently”, adding that the charges in the case “came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election”.
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