End of mandate, arrival of a close friend of Trump at the head of the FBI, accusation of “judicial error”… why Joe Biden pardons his son Hunter

It’s a privilege that raises questions. Or when a president takes advantage of his last months in office to pardon his own son. Worse, the president in question had promised not to interfere in the judicial process. Sunday, December 1, Joe Biden finally went back on his word by granting a “full and unconditional” pardon to his son, Hunter. The latter, who was awaiting his sentence in cases of illegal possession of firearms and tax evasion, is therefore no longer worried by current legal proceedings, but also future ones.

The announcement comes ten days before the required sentence against 54-year-old Hunter Biden is due to be handed down. The former lawyer, subject to drug addiction, had lied on an acquisition form for a revolver, in the state of Delaware, in 2018. He was also targeted by Californian justice for tax fraud, after having avoided the payment of approximately 1.4 million euros in taxes, between 2016 and 2019. Charge to which the son of the President of the United States pleaded guilty, Thursday, September 5. He faced up to 25 years in prison.

“Hunter was singled out because he is my son”

“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 – and that is wrong.”however justified Joe Biden, in a press release. The 82-year-old elected Democrat was on his way to Angola when he made this announcement.

His rival, and successor to the presidency of the United States, Donald Trump was quick to criticize this choice, on his Truth Social network, the same evening: “Does Joe's pardon of Hunter include the (January 6) hostages, who have been imprisoned for years? What an abuse and what a judicial error! »

The main interested party, Hunter Biden, for his part affirmed that he would “dedicate the life (that he has) rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering”in a message addressed to the United States media. His lawyers argued that it was only because he was the president's son that he was brought to justice. His case has long been a thorn in the side of the Biden family, particularly during this election year when Republicans have accused the president's youngest son of benefiting from excessive leniency.

Joe Biden had however assured several times that he would not grant a presidential pardon to his son. As recently as September, the White House reaffirmed this. “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere in the Justice Department's decision-making process, and I kept my word even as I watched my son be so brutally prosecuted. selective and unfair”he insisted, despite the sudden turnaround symbolized by his decision.

“They tried to break me”

If he played on empathy to justify his decision, recalling that he and his wife, Jill, have lived in mourning since the death of their eldest son, Beau, from brain cancer in 2015, Joe Biden also attacks a “scheme” policy. “The accusations in his cases emerged only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my electionhe said. By trying to break Hunter, they tried to break me, and there's no reason to believe it will stop there. »

Surprising when we look at the profile of the special prosecutor who investigated the two cases. Endowed with a status guaranteeing his autonomy, David Weiss has remained at a distance from any political force, including the White House, in the context of these files. The timing of the announcement, however, leaves little doubt about the fear of seeing the judiciary become independent during Donald Trump's second term.

More broadly, this decision does not fail to raise new questions about the independence of the American judicial system. Just a few hours after Joe Biden's announcement, his Republican rival announced the appointment of Kash Patelin as head of the federal police, the FBI. Faithful among the faithful within the Maga movement (for “Make America great again”), close to conspiracy movements and ready to dismantle justice, Kash Patelin is in line with the recent appointments of Donald Trump, who promised to take control of justice to achieve its goals.

At the same time, criminal cases against the newly elected president have stalled since the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling on presidential immunity. Which guarantees him that he will probably never serve a prison sentence, despite his conviction for falsifying accounting documents and for his role in the attempted coup d'état with the storming of the Capitol in January 2021. In addition, Donald Trump promised to pardon everyone convicted of invading the Capitol. American justice has therefore not finished being mistreated by political power.