Joe Biden pardons son Hunter over gun and tax offences

US President says his son has been unfairly prosecuted, as Trump criticises move

US President Joe Biden has issued an official pardon for his son, Hunter, who was facing sentencing for two criminal cases. Reuters

US President Joe Biden has pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, saying he had been unfairly prosecuted.

Hunter Biden was convicted of making false statements on a gun background check and possessing a firearm illegally and pleaded guilty to federal tax charges. Mr Biden previously said he would not pardon his son, but reversed that decision on Sunday.

“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.

“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.”

The White House said repeatedly that Mr Biden would not pardon or commute the sentences of his son, a recovering drug addict who became a target of Republicans, including president-elect Donald Trump.

“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," Mr Biden said. "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.”

Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the pardon was an “abuse” of power and suggested his supporters who were convicted after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol should also have been pardoned.

Mr Biden, first lady 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,” Mr Biden said. “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”

US presidents have previously used pardons to help family members and other political allies. Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother for old cocaine charges and Mr Trump pardoned the father of his son-in-law for tax evasion, though in both cases those men had already served their prison terms.

Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in a tax evasion trial in September, facing up to 17 years in prison. For the separate gun charge, he was facing 25 years in prison.