- By Aditya Jha
- Mon, 02 Dec 2024 07:58 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
US President Joe Biden on Sunday announced that he has pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who faced sentencing on gun crime and tax convictions. The president, in a statement, said that he had pardoned his son, adding that it was a "full and unconditional pardon". This official grant of clemency cannot be rescinded by President-elect Donald Trump.
"Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. 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," Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
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The pardon from the president means Hunter's chances of being sent to prison were eliminated, and he won't be sentenced for his crimes. The judges are likely to cancel the hearings on the cases, which were slated for December 12 in the gun case and December 16 in the tax convictions case. The pardon from Biden covers federal crimes that Hunter Biden committed “from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024,” which also covers his tenure on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company.
Hunter Biden was accused of controversial foreign business dealings, and Donald Trump on multiple occasions said he should be prosecuted for the dealings in Ukraine.
Biden, while issuing the pardon statement, mentioned that Hunter Biden had become a target of Republicans, including President-elect Trump. He also added that his son faced selective prosecution even though he has been sober for five and a half years now. "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," Biden said.
"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," he added. He emphasised that he believes that the citizens of America will understand why a father and a president took this decision.