Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Sunday night, a reversal for the president, who repeatedly said he would not use his executive authority to pardon his son or commute his sentence.

"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," Biden said in his statement.

Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 12 for his conviction on federal gun charges. He also was set to be sentenced on Dec. 16 in a separate criminal case in which he pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges in September.

The president issued a "full and unconditional pardon" for any offenses Hunter Biden has “committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024," according to the White House statement.

A senior White House official told NBC News, which was the first to report on the pardon decision, that the president decided over the weekend to grant his son a pardon and began to inform his senior aides Sunday.

The president also spoke about his son's struggles with addiction in his statement Sunday night, saying that his political opponents were trying to "break" him by going after Hunter.

"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," Biden said in his statement. "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."

In a separate statement, Hunter Biden said he had "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."

Despite all of this, I have maintained my sobriety for more than five years because of my deep faith and the unwavering love and support of my family and friends," he added. "In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages. In recovery we can be given the opportunity to make amends where possible and rebuild our lives if we never take for granted the mercy that we have been afforded. 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."

Reference: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/joe-biden-issue-pardon-son-hunter-biden-rcna182369

it’s hard not to call it nepotism. The guy is literally his son! Would anyone else get that kind of pardon if they weren’t a family member. Fair point, but presidents do have the right to pardon anyone. It’s in the Constitution. Maybe he thought Hunter was unfairly targeted or that the charges were politically motivated.

There’s a difference between pardoning a political ally and pardoning your kid. It feels way more personal, like blurring the line between public service and family business.

BUT If you had presidential pardon powers, wouldn’t you use them for your family if they were in trouble?

I'm sure you definitely WILL.

Although Biden has said he would never pardon his son, I think he assumed Democrats will take over office until Trump won!

I'll do the same if I were in such position.

It's nepotism. American politics is like Nigerian politics. The only reason why their politicans perform is because most of the country's income comes from tax, and if you start messing around with people's tax...what happened in France in 1792 ad will happen again.....

Otherwise, American politics is very much like Nigerian politics. One American on quora once told a story about a government worker who was being paid for doing nothing. He was not sacked because he was put there by a politican.....lol.

What do you expect?

He knows Trump will take his revenge that's why he pardoned him

Forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us

Criminals everywhere.
Of course it's expected.


In another news, TRUST WALLET hacked and stole my money.
Trust wallet itself and not a 3rd party hacker.
✓check
https://www.nairaland.com/8281277/scammer-alert-avoid-trust-wallet-app#133096592

Not bad, I see nothing wrong here, family first


So glad Biden did that, it would have been crazy for him not to have pardoned his son, especially with felon Don getting off for all his crimes.

I'm tired of democrats taking moral high ground when the other party is full of crooks

We all know every other President would have done the same thing.

Donald trump is going to pardon all the criminals and anarchists after his inauguration, so this is nothing

Democrat as party will have nothing to say and their toy station CNN will be cool about it

Nice one...

That's within his rights and powers to do so. Its normal.

Tho CNN portrays Biden as a saint while Trump as the devil, unfortunately Biden isnt better than Trump morally

Favouritism

Kelechi009:
BUT If you had presidential pardon powers, wouldn’t you use them for your family if they were in trouble?

I'm sure you definitely WILL.

Although Biden has said he would never pardon his son, I think he assumed Democrats will take over office until Trump won!

If he didn't, I'm sure Trump would have

Jesus Christ the only Way Truth and the Life.

Good morning

Ok

Kelechi009:


Reference: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/joe-biden-issue-pardon-son-hunter-biden-rcna182369

Watch carefully and see how Democrats will defend this.

Kelechi009:


Reference: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/joe-biden-issue-pardon-son-hunter-biden-rcna182369

Rubbish!
After all the initial gra gra... to score political points!
It's typical of democraps

nairalanda1:
It's nepotism. American politics is like Nigerian politics. The only reason why their politicans perform is because most of the country's income comes from tax, and if you start messing around with people's tax...what happened in France in 1792 ad will happen again.....

Otherwise, American politics is very much like Nigerian politics. One American on quora once told a story about a government worker who was being paid for doing nothing. He was not sacked because he was put there by a politican.....lol.

exactly. This is nepotism.

In saner climes.

Slaves mentality, where una dey?

I would’ve done the same thing considering the charge, Trump too

I don’t understand what is happening oh biden pardon is son for addiction of what

The name is not mentioned
Addiction of what

This is good for democracy and rule of law

https://youtube.com/shorts/xkfNUaZC1jM?si=w4YbqVzLtbRjqfCM

If a felon can be elected President of the United States and his sentencing could be delayed and/or pardon , while not the President's son

Tough choice, but a constitutionally permitted one that had to be made.

A Father to the Nation is first a father to his biological family.

Once the son's repentance and sobriety is established, I guess he qualifies for pardon.

After all, Dr Peter Odili, whose wife was a Supreme Court Judge, got a perpetual injunction stopping ALL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES from investigating whatever financial crimes that might be attributed to his 8 year tenure as Rivers State governor.

Yet, two governors were jailed for similar offence - although they also got presidential pardons - while a third one, Orji Uzor Kalu, had good conviction overturned on the basis of Judicial technicality.

American democracy They are not different from Naija's version after all. Judicial corruption is rife in America.

Interesting