President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he has granted a full and unconditional pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, who was facing sentencing this month for federal tax and gun offenses. The pardon, as confirmed by a statement from the president, ensures that Hunter Biden will not face imprisonment for his crimes, effectively preventing any upcoming sentencing hearings.
“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” President Biden said. “It is a full and unconditional pardon,” according to the official copy of the executive grant of clemency. This action is not subject to reversal by President-elect Donald Trump.
This move marks a departure from earlier statements in which President Biden had repeatedly stated, both before and after dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, that he would not pardon his son. However, with the pardon now issued, it eliminates the possibility of a prison sentence for Hunter Biden, who was slated to appear in court on December 12 for the gun conviction and December 16 for the tax case.
The pardon covers Hunter Biden’s tax and gun offenses and extends to any potential federal crimes committed between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024. Notably, this period encompasses his time on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, which has been the subject of ongoing scrutiny, as well as his business dealings in China. Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for Hunter Biden to be prosecuted for his foreign business dealings.
Hunter Biden’s legal team formally notified the judges overseeing his criminal cases about the pardon, and in a sworn affidavit, he accepted the clemency. His lawyers also filed court documents requesting the dismissal of the indictment and the adjournment of all future proceedings.
In his statement, President Biden explained that the decision to pardon his son was prompted by what he described as Hunter Biden being “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.” The president also alleged that political opponents in Congress “instigated” the charges in an effort to attack him and undermine his election campaign.
“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,” President Biden said. “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”
While President Biden expressed his belief that Hunter Biden was unfairly singled out for prosecution “only because he is my son,” these claims were rejected by two federal judges. One judge overseeing the gun case in Delaware dismissed the notion of selective prosecution as “nonsensical.”
Former President Trump quickly condemned the pardon, calling it “such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” He also made a joke on social media, suggesting that the pardon might extend to his supporters who participated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
The decision to pardon Hunter Biden concludes a six-year legal saga. In June, he was convicted by a jury for illegally purchasing and possessing a gun as a drug user. In September, he pleaded guilty to nine tax offenses related to his failure to pay $1.4 million in taxes, spending lavishly on a variety of personal indulgences.
Special Counsel David Weiss, appointed by President Trump, had been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018, leading to the indictments filed in 2023. Throughout the investigation, President Biden had refrained from intervening, maintaining a stance of non-interference.
Hunter Biden has publicly acknowledged his past struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, which formed the backdrop of the criminal cases against him. In a statement on Sunday, he said, “I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction — mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport.”
“I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering,” he added.
President Biden justified the pardon, noting that few people are charged with addiction-related gun offenses “without aggravating factors,” such as using the weapon in violent crimes. He also pointed out that individuals who pay back their overdue taxes, like Hunter Biden, are often allowed to resolve their issues through civil enforcement rather than facing criminal charges.
This is not the first instance of an outgoing president granting a pardon to a family member. Bill Clinton pardoned his brother, and Donald Trump pardoned the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in the final days of their presidencies.
Critics, however, have raised concerns about the appropriateness of the pardon, with Jeffrey Crouch, an expert on pardons, calling it an “abuse of the clemency power.” He argued that presidents should not use pardons to aid family members and allies for personal interests.
The pardon decision came after President Biden spent Thanksgiving with his family in Nantucket. According to sources, the president made the final decision after reflecting on his son’s struggles and recovery. The Bidens were seen together in public, with President Biden and Hunter Biden attending events such as a tree lighting and Mass.
White House aides began preparing for the announcement shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday, and a meeting was scheduled to finalize the details of the pardon upon the president’s return to Washington.
Despite earlier statements denying the possibility of a pardon, the White House had signaled in recent weeks that clemency for Hunter Biden was a possibility, especially following Trump’s election victory. The president’s decision to act now may have been influenced by concerns that Republicans would continue to target his son in the face of the incoming administration.
As the legal saga ends, Hunter Biden’s legal team continues to maintain that he was the victim of political persecution. The Biden family, meanwhile, moves forward with the hope that this chapter is now closed.
