First son Hunter Biden said Sunday after his father, President Joe Biden, pardoned him that he has “taken responsibility” for his mistakes which have been “exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport.”
Hunter Biden, 54, was convicted in two separate federal cases earlier this year — he was first found guilty in June on three felony charges for federal gun violations and pleaded guilty in September in a separate felony tax case.
“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,” Hunter Biden said in a statement to Fox News. “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.”
“In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages,” he continued. “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.”
BIDEN PARDONS SON HUNTER BIDEN AHEAD OF EXIT FROM WHITE HOUSE
Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, departs the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 3, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The president’s pardon of his son, which was announced by the White House on Sunday night, applies to offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden “has committed or may have committed” from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.
“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” Biden said in a statement. “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.”
The outgoing president also argued that his son was “treated differently” in his criminal cases.
“Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form,” the statement said. “Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.”
President Biden further said that the cases against his son only came due to Republicans’ opposition to him and his 2020 election win against President-elect Donald Trump.
“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” the president said. “Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.”
BIDEN WON’T PARDON HUNTER, WHITE HOUSE REAFFIRMS, BUT CRITICS AREN’T SO SURE
President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden hug on stage at the conclusion of the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 19, 2024. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
“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,” he continued. “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.”
The president additionally blamed “raw politics” for the prosecutions against his son.
“For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth,” he said. “They’ll be fair-minded. 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.”
He concluded: “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”
A court document obtained by Fox News showed that Hunter Biden signed his name on a legal acknowledgment of the pardon.
President Biden’s decision to pardon his son is a departure from multiple statements he made to the media over the summer in which he claimed he would not pardon the first son.
Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, attends an event celebrating the 2024 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington D.C., on September 30, 2024. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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In the gun case, Hunter Biden was found guilty of making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
Prosecutors specifically sought to prove that he lied on a federal firearm form in October 2018, when he checked a box for “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of substances or addicted to controlled substances.
The other trial regarded three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses over the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. As jury selection was about to kick off in Los Angeles federal court, Hunter Biden entered a guilty plea.
Trump previously said on the campaign trail that he would consider pardoning Hunter Biden.