Outgoing President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter Biden despite earlier repeated claims that he would not do so.
The 82-year-old president issued his pardon Sunday, Dec. 1, as confirmed by a statement issued by the White House. According to NBC News, the "full and unconditional pardon" cleared Hunter, 54, from any offenses "committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 1, 2024."
"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. Once I made the decision this weekend, there was no sense delaying it further," Biden said in the statement. "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. 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," Biden added. He concluded by expressing hope that "Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision."
A senior White House official told NBC News that Biden decided over the weekend to grant his son a pardon, and began to inform his senior aides Sunday. The pardon came ahead of two sentencing hearings the presidential son was set to attend this month.
According to the outlet, Hunter was originally scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 12 following his conviction on federal gun charges. He was also set to face sentencing on Dec. 16 for charges of federal tax evasion, in which he entered a guilty plea in September. (Related: Hunter Biden PLEADS GUILTY to all nine federal tax charges, avoids trial – but will no doubt be pardoned by his father.)
Biden broke his promise of not pardoning his son
In a separate statement, the now-pardoned presidential son said he had "admitted and taken responsibility for [his] mistakes during the darkest days of [his] addiction."
These mistakes, Hunter alleged, "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," Hunter added, promising to "devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering."
According to NBC News, the presidential pardon issued Sunday contradicted earlier remarks from the outgoing administration that Hunter won't be pardoned. "I will not pardon him," Biden said in June after Hunter was convicted on federal gun charges.
Even First Lady Jill Biden said their son won't be pardoned, claiming in an interview that "Joe and I both respect the judicial system."
A week prior to the issuance of the pardon, White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates insisted that the president won't be pardoning his son. "The president has spoken to this. I don't have anything to add what he said already," Bates told reporters.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for President-elect Donald Trump, commented on the development.
"The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled [Department of Justice] and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system," he said. "That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people."
Head over to BidenCrimeFamily.news for more stories about Hunter Biden.
Watch Judge Andrew Napolitano explaining why Joe Biden's decision to pardon his son may actually hurt the elder Biden in the long run.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
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