U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of making false statements on a gun background check and illegally possessing a firearm and pled guilty to federal tax charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department\u2019s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,\u201d he said in a statement released by the White House.<\/p>\n
The White House had said repeatedly that Biden would not pardon or commute the sentences of his son, a recovering drug addict who became a target of Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter\u2019s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n
Hunter Biden faced sentencing for the false statements and gun convictions on Wednesday. In September he pled guilty to federal charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury items. He faced sentencing in that case on Dec. 16.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction \u2013 mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,\u201d Hunter Biden said in a statement on Sunday, adding he had remained sober for more than five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages … 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president, whose son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, said his opponents had sought to break Hunter with selective prosecution.<\/p>\n
He said people were almost never brought to trial for felony charges over how they filled out a gun form, and said others who were late in paying taxes because of addiction but paid them back with interest and penalties as his son had typically received \u201cnon-criminal resolutions\u201d to their cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is clear that Hunter was treated differently. 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,\u201d Biden said. \u201cIn trying to break Hunter, they\u2019ve tried to break me \u2013 and there\u2019s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden said he had made the decision over the weekend. The president, his wife, Jill Biden, and their family including Hunter, spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts and returned to Washington on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
During a walk around Nantucket shops on Friday afternoon, one supporter shouted at the president from across a street to pardon his son.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s 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 \u2013 and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: Reuters
\n–Agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of making false statements on a gun…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n