The White House said on Monday that President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter in part to protect him from future persecution from political opponents, but his move drew fierce criticism, with some Democrats saying it undermined public trust in the rule of law.
Biden, a Democrat whose term ends on January 20 when Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office, signed an unconditional pardon for Hunter Biden on Sunday and said he believed his son had been selectively prosecuted and targeted unfairly by the president’s political opponents.
Biden said in the past that he would not pardon his son, including to ABC News in June when he was asked if he would rule it out and replied “yes.”
His surprise move was panned by his Republican political opposition, but also by Democrats who said it eroded trust in the judicial system, a concept Biden and his party had used to criticise Trump.
Hunter was prosecuted for tax offences and charges related to possession of a firearm after being targeted for years by Republicans in Congress who accused him of making business deals using his father’s name but failed to establish any clear connections.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday defended the president’s action and said Biden believed Hunter faced further grief from his adversaries, who she did not name.
Jean-Pierre was among the White House officials who had repeatedly said in the past Biden would not pardon his son.
“One of the reasons the president did the pardon is because they didn’t seem like — his political … opponents — would let go of it. It didn’t seem like they would move on,” she told reporters on Air Force One during a trip to Angola.
“They would continue to go after his son. That’s what he believed.”
Jean-Pierre stressed this was not the first time a president had pardoned a family member. Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother Roger before he left office, and Trump his daughter’s father-in-law, Charles Kushner.
Jean-Pierre said Biden believed in the Department of Justice despite his statement that his son’s process in the judicial system was “infected” with politics.
“Two things could be true: the president does believe in the justice … system and … Department of Justice, and he also believes that his son was singled out politically,” she said.
She declined to give further details on why or how Biden had changed his mind, or whether the recent election that put Republicans in charge of the White House and both branches of Congress played a role.
Republicans accused Biden of lying. Democrats were split, with Colorado Governor Jared Polis suggesting he put family over country and former US attorney general Eric Holder saying the pardon was warranted.
“Joe Biden has an opportunity to do more than protect his own. He can extend the same compassion he showed his son to the millions of people trapped in prison for nonviolent offences,” Black Lives Matter said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The New York Times reported Biden was concerned that the pressure of the trials could impact his son’s sobriety and that it appeared no consideration had been given to anything short of a full pardon.
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in September to federal tax charges in federal court in Los Angeles and was due to be sentenced on Dec 16 under Mark C. Scarsi, a judge nominated by Republican President-elect Donald Trump.
A jury found him guilty in June of making false statements on a gun background check; he was due to be sentenced for those charges this month as well.
Biden said on Sunday that his son had been selectively prosecuted and treated differently than others in similar situations.
“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 said.
Late on Sunday, Hunter Biden’s attorney filed to dismiss the indictments against him.
