Biden pardons his son Hunter in 2 cases despite previous pledges not to

President Joe Biden pardons son Hunter Biden, reversing past promises and sparing him from prison time.

President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, on Sunday (December 2, 2024) night, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family members.

The Democratic President had previously said he would not pardon his son or commute his sentence after his convictions in the two cases in Delaware and California. The move comes weeks before Hunter Biden was set to receive his punishment after his trial conviction in the gun case and guilty plea on tax charges, and less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.

It caps a long-running legal saga for the younger M”r. Biden, who publicly disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020 — a month after his father’s 2020 victory — and casts a pall over the elder Mr. Biden’s legacy. Mr. Biden, who time and again pledged to Americans that he would restore norms and respect for the rule of law after Mr. Trump’s first term in office, ultimately used his position to help his son, breaking his public pledge to Americans that he would do no such thing.

In June, Mr. Biden categorically ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters as his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”

As recently as Nov. 8, days after Mr. Trump’s victory, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ruled out a pardon or clemency for the younger Mr. Biden, saying, “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.”

The elder Mr. Biden has publicly stood by his only living son as Mr. Hunter descended into serious drug addiction and threw his family life into turmoil, before pulling himself out in recent years. His political rivals have long used Hunter Biden’s myriad mistakes as a political cudgel against his father: in one hearing, lawmakers displayed half-naked photos of the drug addled president’s son in a seedy hotel.

And House Republicans sought to use the younger Mr. Biden's years of questionable overseas business ventures in a since-abandoned attempt to impeach his father, who has long denied involvement in his son's dealings or benefiting from them in any way.