This Sunday, Joe Biden announced that he had pardoned his son Hunter, who was awaiting sentencing in cases of illegal possession of a firearm and tax evasion. He had promised not to do so but denounced political accusations.
A controversial decision less than two months before leaving power. In a publication posted on his social network Truth this Sunday, December 1, Donald Trump strongly criticized Joe Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter, found guilty in cases of tax evasion and illegal possession of a firearm, few time before his departure from the White House.
“Does Joe's pardon of Hunter include the J-6 hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? What an abuse and denial of justice,” Donald Trump wrote, referring to his supporters on trial for invading the Capitol in January 2021 to protest his electoral defeat. Donald Trump promised to pardon them once he returned to power.
Joe Biden denounces political accusations
This Sunday, Joe Biden decided to pardon his son, which means that Donald Trump will not be able to reverse this decision and that Hunter Biden will not be able to be convicted for these facts, nor for any potential federal crime committed “on January 1, 2014 on December 1, 2024.
This decision, as legal as it may be, taints the narrative defended by Joe Biden's camp in recent years. Indeed, the 46th President of the United States had publicly and repeatedly assured that he would not grant a presidential pardon to his son.
Upon arriving at the White House, he also promised to restore the independence of Justice, eroded during Donald Trump's first term.
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“No reasonable person looking at the facts in the Hunter cases can come to any conclusion other than this: Hunter was singled out solely because he is my son,” Joe Biden said. in a press release, pointing to a “judicial error”.
“I said I would not interfere with the decision-making of the Department of Justice and I kept my word even when I saw my son being prosecuted in a selective and unfair manner,” he said. , adding: “The accusations in his cases emerged only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.”
Trump has repeatedly used presidential pardons for relatives
This decision is sure to raise new questions about the independence of the American judicial system. According to CNN, in the future, whenever Donald Trump is singled out for his use of the presidential pardon power, he can argue that Joe Biden did the same to protect his own son.
During his first term, the Republican used it several times, notably to pardon the father of his son-in-law, whom he has now chosen to be United States ambassador to France.
At the same time, criminal cases against Donald Trump have stalled. Last week, the American justice system validated the end of the proceedings against the president-elect for electoral interference. For his return to the White House, Donald Trump promised to hunt down and take revenge on his “enemies within”.
17 and 25 years in prison
As the BBC points out, this is not the first time that an American president has pardoned a member of his family. In 2001, Bill Clinton pardoned his younger half-brother for a cocaine-related offense committed in 1985.
On December 12, Hunter Biden was to hear the sentence against him following his conviction in June for purchasing and possessing a firearm in 2018, while he was addicted to drugs and had lied about it in the acquisition form. On December 16, he was also due to know his sentence after pleading guilty in September to tax fraud.
ABCNews reports that for the fraud charges, the president's son faced up to 17 years in prison and 25 years in prison for his gun conviction.
According to CNN, there is some truth to Joe Biden's claim that his son was “treated differently” because of his father's identity, including in Republican investigations in Congress related to illegal possession of a gun.
