US outgoing President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter after he was convicted on gun and tax-related federal charges, amid earlier promises against such a move.
The pardon spares Hunter a possible prison sentence related to federal felony gun and tax convictions. It comes weeks before he was set to receive his punishment after his trial conviction in the gun case and guilty plea on tax charges.
Hunter Biden told the Associated Press news agency in an emailed statement that he will never take for granted the relief granted to him, vowing to devote the life he has rebuilt "to helping those who are still sick and suffering."
"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 was quoted as saying.
What did President Biden say?
Biden called his son's conviction "a miscarriage of justice."
"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," the president said in a statement.
Hunter had first disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020, merely a month after Biden was elected president.
Biden pointed out that the charges came about "only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election."
"I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision," Biden added, claiming he made the decision this weekend, when the president's family spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
"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."
Pardon contradicts earlier promises
Biden's use of his extraordinary powers of the presidency comes as he prepares to leave the White House, with Donald Trump's inauguration scheduled for January 20.
It contradicts several earlier promises by the outgoing president not to use such powers for the benefit of his family members.
In June, Biden ruled out a pardon or clemency for Hunter in an ABC News interview.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre doubled down on the promise as recently as November 8.
"We've been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no," she had said.
Republicans angry over pardon
Republicans fumed after Biden's decision.
Republican President elect Trump, who himself had faced a string of criminal cases all halted by his election victory, described Biden's decision as an "abuse and miscarriage of justice."
"Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?" Trump said on his Truth Social platform, referring to rioters who were imprisoned after storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Many Republican Congress representatives also took to social media to express their anger.
"Joe Biden is a liar and a hypocrite, all the way to the end," said Congresswoman Marjorie Taylore Greene on X, formerly Twitter.
Congressman Andy Biggs said Biden would "go down as one of the most corrupt presidents in American history."
"Hunter Biden is a criminal—but his corrupt father won’t let justice be served under an Administration that follows the rule of law," he said on X.
Congressman James Comer said it was "unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability."
Criticism even came from some of Biden's own Democratic Party, such as Colorado Governor Jared Polis.
"While as a father I certainly understand President Joe Biden's natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country," Polis said.
The governor warned that the pardon was "a bad precedent that could be abused by later presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation."
