Joe Biden pardons son Hunter: What it means and why it matters

US President Joe Biden has pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who was facing sentencing for two criminal cases related to tax evasion and the purchase of a firearm.

Here is what we know about the case and the pardon:

Who is Hunter Biden and what are the charges against him?

Hunter Biden is Joe Biden’s 54-year-old middle child. He is also his only surviving son and the first child of a sitting US president to face criminal trial.

In a 2021 memoir, Hunter admitted to crack cocaine use and alcoholism, although he said he received treatment and recovered from his addictions.

Hunter faced the possibility of years in federal prison due to multiple charges related to gun possession and tax fraud.

In June, he was convicted by a jury for illegally purchasing and possessing a gun while being a drug user. Hunter had the .38 calibre Colt Cobra Special for approximately 11 days and never fired it, according to his lawyers.

Months later, in September, he pleaded guilty to charges of a scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4m in taxes.

For the tax case, he faced up to 17 years in prison, and the gun charges were punishable by up to 25 years. Still, Hunter was expected to receive a shorter sentence, and it was possible he could have avoided prison time entirely.

Hunter Biden was supposed to be sentenced on December 12 on the gun-related charges in Delaware and on December 16 on the tax charges in California.

But didn’t Joe Biden say he wouldn’t pardon Hunter?

Indeed.

In June, Biden ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son. “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him,” Biden said as his son was facing trial in the Delaware gun case.

Separately, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at least seven times – over more than a year – that Biden would not pardon his son.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answers questions during the news briefing at the White House [File: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters]

As Biden faced off against former President Donald Trump in this year’s presidential election, he tried to draw a distinction with the realtor-turned-politician – who has been charged in multiple cases.

“No one is above the law,” he wrote on X in early July, in seeming protest against the US Supreme Court verdict granting broad immunity to Trump for any legal violations he committed while president.

No one is above the law.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 31, 2024

So how did Biden justify the change in his stance?

In a statement by the White House on Sunday, Biden announced his decision to grant executive clemency to his son, Hunter Biden.

Biden explained that this decision was made in response to what he described as a politically motivated attack orchestrated by his opponents, to damage his reputation.

“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,” Biden said in the statement.

“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.”

Biden also emphasised, “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. … I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”

Statement from President Biden

“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter…”

Full statement: https://t.co/InKuzm3vMF pic.twitter.com/vhxIjr1xIe

— CSPAN (@cspan) December 2, 2024

How did Hunter react?

Hunter said in a statement he would never take the reprieve “for granted”.

“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 said in a statement.

“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.”

What does a pardon do?

The US Constitution says a president has the power to grant clemency, which includes pardons, amnesty, commutation and reprieve.

A pardon absolves individuals of federal criminal offences and restores all civil liberties and rights, while a commutation lessens penalties without completely removing them. An amnesty is the same as a pardon but it’s extended to a group of individuals.

This power originates from English law, where the king could show mercy to anyone, and it later travelled across the Atlantic Ocean to the American colonies. US presidents often use this authority.

How common is it for presidents to pardon family members?

It’s not uncommon for US presidents to use this power to pardon or commute the sentence of a family member.

In his final weeks in office in 2021, Donald Trump issued about 100 pardons and commutations. Among the people he pardoned were Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

In 2005, Kushner was sentenced to two years for tax evasion, illegal campaign donations, and witness tampering. Fast forward to 2024, and Charles Kushner has just been nominated by Trump to serve as US ambassador to France in the incoming administration.

Former President Bill Clinton, before the end of his second term, pardoned his half-brother Roger. In 1985, Roger Clinton Jr. was convicted on a cocaine-related charge and sentenced to more than a year in prison after admitting guilt to conspiracy to distribute.

Is this significant?

According to analysts, this pardon could undermine the credibility of the US democratic system – and the notion that the law is indeed the same for everyone.

“Now that an election is over and Joe Biden has no more races to run, I think that what we’re seeing now is a father who is steadfastly looking out for his son,” Eric Ham, a US political analyst, told Al Jazeera.

“I do believe that this will be a lingering question that many people will focus on, and I suspect that now there will be more eyes on any pardons that Joe Biden provides as he heads out the door. But also, I think it raises a much larger question of where the US stands now as a nation of laws,” he added.

Experts also suggest that this also places the US in a challenging position in its global role.

“It’s going to be very difficult for the US … as it tries to hammer other nations, including China, Russia, and North Korea,” Ham said.

“I think it blurs the lines, and I think it makes it difficult for the US to make those arguments. When you look at successive moves being made by Biden and Donald Trump, who ran on pardoning January 6th insurrectionists, I think the argument for the US becomes harder as the nation moves forward,” he explained.

“The law seems to only work for or doesn’t work for certain people,” Ham added.

Is this similar to what Trump has said or done before?

Both Biden and Trump have alleged that the Department of Justice has been influenced by politics.

Biden argued that the case was used to attack him and oppose his election. Trump has also argued that the justice system has been weaponised against him and he is a victim of prosecution.

After Biden announced the pardon for Hunter, Trump called the move an abuse of justice.

“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?”  Trump said in a social media post. He was referring to the rioters who were accused of attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” he added.

Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol after he delivered a fiery speech urging the crowd to “fight like hell”, in a bid to stop Congress from certifying results of the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Biden.

How have others reacted?

Republican Iowa Senator Charles E Grassley said on social media that he was “shocked” that the president had pardoned his son because “he said many many times he wouldn’t & I believed him. Shame on me.”

I’m shocked Pres Biden pardoned his son Hunter bc he said many many times he wouldn’t & I believed him Shame on me

— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) December 2, 2024

Separately, Greg Stanton, Democrat representative of Arizona, posted on X: “I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong. This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”

I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong.

This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers. https://t.co/P31d4ILL1P

— Rep. Greg Stanton (@RepGregStanton) December 2, 2024

“Joe Biden is a liar and a hypocrite, all the way to the end,” Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican congresswoman from Georgia, said.

But others welcomed Biden’s decision, arguing that Hunter had been unfairly treated. Former US Attorney General Eric Holder posted on X that the pardon was “warranted”.