US President Joe Biden: His son Hunter Biden has been pardoned

President Joe Biden (82) has pardoned his son Hunter Biden (54), who was convicted of gun possession and pleaded guilty to tax evasion. In a statement released by the White House, the US president said he had pardoned Hunter, who was scheduled to be sentenced in two separate criminal cases later this month.

“I have said since I took office that I would not interfere in the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I have kept my word, even as I have seen my son targeted and unfairly prosecuted.”

“Without aggravating factors such as involvement in a crime, multiple purchases, or purchasing a gun as a straw man, people are almost never brought to trial simply for filling out a gun form,” he continued. “Those who paid their taxes late due to serious dependencies, but later repaid them with interest and penalties, are generally not prosecuted,” he further explained.

“It’s clear that Hunter was treated differently.”

Hunter Biden was convicted of three firearms offenses in June and pleaded guilty to federal tax crimes in September. The case marks the first criminal prosecution of the child of a sitting US president.

Prosecutors say he lied on a form when purchasing a Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018 and said he was not a drug user or addict, even though he had a problem with crack cocaine.

Two months later, Hunter pleaded guilty to tax offenses. He was due to stand trial for failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while allegedly splurging on drugs, prostitutes and luxury items.

The “full and unconditional pardon” applies to both the weapons charges and tax evasion charges, for which Hunter was scheduled to be sentenced on December 12 and December 16.

In the statement, President Biden went on to say that the charges against Hunter “came only after several of my political opponents in Congress incited them to attack me and oppose my election.” The 82-year-old then said that Hunter’s deal, “agreed to by the Justice Department, fell apart in the courtroom – with a number of political opponents in Congress taking credit for putting political pressure on the trial.”

Noting Hunter’s battle with addiction, the president added: “No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s cases can come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was singled out simply because he is my son – and that is wrong.

“An attempt was made to break Hunter – who has been sober for five and a half years, even in the face of relentless attacks and selective prosecution,” Biden said, adding: “In trying to break Hunter, they also tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop.”