Biden forgives his son Hunter: What does that mean? – Daily leader

WASHINGTON (AP) — President joe biden had long vowed that he would not forgive his son, Hunter, who was to be sentenced this month for gun and tax offenses. But on Sunday the president did it anyway.

Broad forgiveness does not cover only the convictions of Hunter Biden in two cases in Delaware and California, but also any other “crimes against the United States that he committed or may have committed or participated in during the period from January 1, 2014 to December 1, 2024.”

Biden is not the first president to use his pardon powers to benefit those close to him. But it was still a striking turnaround for a man who pledged to restore norms and respect for the rule of law.

What is a forgiveness?

The U.S. Constitution says a president has the power to grant clemency, which includes both pardons and commutations. A pardon forgives federal criminal offenses; a commutation reduces the penalties but is not as broad. The power has its roots in English law (the king could grant mercy to anyone) and crossed the ocean to the American colonies and stayed there. The United States Supreme Court has found the authority of presidential pardons to be very broad. And presidents use that power a lot: Donald Trump granted clemency 237 times during his four years in office and Barack Obama granted clemency 1,927 times during his eight years. Presidents have pardoned drug crimes, fraud convictions, and Vietnam-era draft evaders, among many other things.

But a president can only grant pardons for federal crimes, not state ones. Impeachment convictions are also not forgivable.

What crimes has Hunter Biden been accused of?

hunter biden He was sentenced in June of lying on a federal form when he bought a gun in 2018 and swore he did not use drugs. Just a few months later, he pleaded guilty to the charges. accusing him of a scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4 million in taxes. Prosecutors alleged that he lived lavishly while disobeying tax law, spending his money on things like strippers and luxury hotels; “in short, everything except your taxes.”

Both cases arose from a period in the life of Hunter Biden in which he battled drug and alcohol abuse before becoming sober in 2019.

After the gun trial aired salacious and unflattering details about Hunter Biden’s life, the president’s son said he agreed to plead guilty to the tax charges to spare his family another embarrassing criminal trial.

The tax trial was also expected to show details about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, which Republicans have taken advantage to try to paint the Biden family as corrupt.

Hunter Biden was supposed to be sentenced this month in the two cases by judges from California and Delaware who were nominated to the bench by Trump.

Special counsel David Weiss’s office had not said whether prosecutors had planned to seek prison time. The tax charges carried up to 17 years behind bars and the weapons charges were punishable by up to 25 years in prison, although federal sentencing guidelines were expected to require much less time and the younger Biden may have avoided the penalty. of prison completely.

Didn’t Biden say he wouldn’t forgive his son?

Yes. Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation since 2020. He struck a deal with federal prosecutors and was supposed to plead guilty last year to minor tax offenses and would have avoided prosecution in the weapons case as long as he stayed out of it. in trouble for two years.

But the plea hearing quickly fell apart when the judge expressed concerns about unusual aspects of the deal. He was later charged in both cases and claimed that he was singled out because he is the president’s son.

The president said journalists earlier this summer that he would not forgive his son.

“I am very proud of my son Hunter. He has overcome an addiction. “He is one of the brightest and most decent men I know,” he said. “I comply with the jury’s decision. “I will do it and I will not forgive him.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Nov. 8 that Biden would not forgive his son.

Why did Biden break his promise?

In his statement on Sunday, Biden said his son had been “selectively and unfairly prosecuted.” Biden has been worried: as was Hunter Biden – about his political adversaries.

Additionally, the president is no longer running for office. He made his promise not to pardon before dropping out of the presidential race in June.

In his statement, the president said it was clear that his son was treated differently than other defendants in similar situations. The plea deal fell apart and Biden’s political opponents took credit for pressuring the process, he said.

“No reasonable person looking at the facts of the Hunter cases can come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was singled out just because he is my son, and that is wrong. An effort has been made to break Hunter, who has been sober for five and a half years, even in the face of relentless attacks and selective prosecution. By trying to break Hunter, they have tried to break me, and there is no reason to believe it will stop here. “That’s enough.”

Have other presidents forgiven their family or friends?

Yes. In his final weeks in office, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. He also pardoned multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Trump over the weekend announced plans to nominate Father Kushner be the United States envoy to France in his next administration.

President Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother Roger Clinton in 2001, after he had served a prison sentence on drug charges. Clinton also pardoned his former business partner Susan McDougal, who had been sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the Whitewater real estate business.

The president’s official pardon, as well as a note on his reasoning, can be read at