Joe Biden has sparked controversy by announcing he will pardon his son, despite earlier promises to the contrary.
On Sunday night (Dec 1), President Biden made it public that he would exercise his executive power to grant clemency to his son.
In a statement, Biden explained his decision, acknowledging the difficulty he faced in reaching this conclusion.
He further stated that his son’s legal troubles had been used by political opponents as a means to target him.
Hunter Biden was facing two felony gun charges for allegedly lying about his addiction on a government form when purchasing a revolver in October 2018, as well as a charge for illegally possessing the firearm for 11 days.
Additionally, he faced three charges related to felony tax offenses, including tax evasion and filing false returns, along with six misdemeanor counts.
Joe Biden expressed: “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 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.”
The president also stated that his political adversaries were targeting his son in an attempt to weaken him. He emphasized his son’s struggles with addiction.
Biden added: “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.”
In a separate statement, Hunter Biden echoed his father’s views, criticizing his father’s political foes for using him as a means to target his father.
He stated: “[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.
“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. 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.”
Donald Trump took to Truth Social to comment on this move, quickly mentioning the issue of pardoning individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol attack.
He wrote: “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice.”