A day after U.S. President Joe Biden announced the pardon of his son Hunter, the White House has confirmed that more pardons and clemencies are expected to be issued before Biden leaves office next month.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday that Biden is carefully considering the process. “I don’t have a timeline for you,” she said. “As you know, this usually happens towards the end. The president is going through that process, thinking through that process. I’m not going to get ahead of him. But you can expect more announcements to come.”
The decision to pardon Hunter Biden, who was facing sentencing this month for gun and tax offenses, has sparked both support and criticism. Biden had previously pledged not to pardon his son, who has struggled with addiction and faced legal troubles. However, the president stated in a late Sunday statement that Hunter’s prosecution was politically motivated and aimed at undermining his reelection campaign.
“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,” Biden said.
Hunter Biden was convicted of three felonies in June for a 2018 gun purchase and pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges. He was facing a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison for the tax case and 25 years for the gun case. However, with his father’s pardon, he will not face any prison time and will have his record cleared of any offenses committed between January 1, 2014, and January 1, 2024.
In a statement, Hunter Biden expressed remorse for his past mistakes and the impact they have had on his family. “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,” he said.
President Biden also defended his decision, stating that he believes in the justice system but believes that politics have tainted his son’s case. “For my entire career, I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. 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,” he said.
The decision to pardon Hunter Biden has received mixed reactions from both sides of the political spectrum. President-elect Donald Trump, who has previously pardoned several of his associates, criticized the move, calling it an “abuse and miscarriage of justice” compared to the imprisonment of his supporters involved in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
Trump has also stated that he intends to pardon more individuals when he takes office again on January 20. However, some have questioned the timing of his pardons, as some of the individuals have already served their sentences, while others are still facing trials.
The decision to pardon Hunter Biden has also sparked debate among politicians. Democratic Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, expressed disappointment, stating that while he understands Biden’s desire to help his son, he believes it sets a bad precedent. “I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country. This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,” he said.
Republican Senator from Iowa, Chuck Grassley, also expressed shock at the pardon, stating that he believed Biden when he said he would not pardon his son. “Shame on me,” he wrote on social media.
However, former U.S. Attorney General under President Barack Obama, Eric Holder, defended the decision, stating that Hunter Biden was only prosecuted because of his last name. “No U.S. attorney would have charged this case given the underlying facts,” he said.
The decision to pardon Hunter Biden has sparked a debate on the role of politics in the justice system and the power of presidential pardons. While some believe it was a necessary move to protect Hunter Biden from a politically motivated prosecution, others see it as a misuse of power.
As President Biden continues to consider more pardons and clemencies, the American people will be watching closely to see how he balances justice and politics in his decisions.
