A presidential pardon has become a complex topic in recent years. While a pardon is often controversial, any U.S. president has the Constitutional power to grant clemency to a person facing criminal charges. With Joe Biden having pardoned his son Hunter Biden, many are questioning what this means and why the president chose this course of action after repeatedly stating he would not do so.
Learn more about government pardons and Hunter Biden’s situation, below.
What Is a Pardon?
A federal pardon is a power that the president of the United States has under the Constitution. A president’s clemency power gives he or she the authority to pardon all federal criminal offenses, except those related to impeachment.
Per the U.S. Department of Justice, anyone granted a pardoned offense is not automatically removed from one’s criminal record. “Instead, both the federal conviction as well as the pardon would both appear on your record,” the DOJ’s website reads. “However, a pardon will facilitate removal of legal disabilities imposed because of the conviction, and should lessen to some extent the stigma arising from the conviction. In addition, a pardon may be helpful in obtaining licenses, bonding, or employment.”
Did Joe Biden Pardon His Son Hunter?
Yes, President Biden pardoned his son on December 1, 2024, shortly before Hunter’s sentencing was scheduled to take place. Per the Associated Press, Joe explained why he pardoned Hunter after years of saying he wouldn’t.
“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,” the president noted. “Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form. Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.”
President Biden claimed that there was “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,” Joe added, before concluding, “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 – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.”
What Was Hunter Biden Charged With?
Hunter was convicted of multiple gun-related and tax-related charges. In his tax case, Hunter was convicted of not paying more than $1 million in taxes from the years 2016 through 2019. According to the Department of Justice, he was accused of subverting the payroll and tax withholdings of his company, spending millions of dollars on luxurious items rather than paying his taxes, failing to pay his 2016 through 2019 taxes on time, failing to file his 2017 and 2018 tax returns on time and indicating false business deductions to decrease the tax liability he had been facing since early 2020. Hunter pleaded guilty to all nine counts of the indictment in mid-2024.
As for the gun case, Hunter was convicted of three felony charges in relation to a purchase he made in 2018 of a revolver. A jury found him guilty of lying to a gun dealer on an application by claiming he was nut a drug user.
