‘There has been an effort to break Hunter… Enough is enough’: President Joe Biden issues pardon for son
President Joe Biden has issued a pardon for his son Hunter, who has been convicted of gun charges and pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion.
In a statement released by the White House, the US president said he had given clemency to Hunter, who was due to be sentenced later this month on two separate criminal cases.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion earlier this year. Pic: Reuters
Hunter, 54, was convicted of three firearm charges in June, marking the first criminal prosecution of a sitting US president’s child.
Prosecutors said he lied on a form when buying a Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018 by stating he was not a drug user or addict, despite having a problem with crack cocaine.
Two months later, Hunter pleaded guilty to federal tax charges. He was due to stand trial on criminal charges of failing to pay $1.4m (£1.06m) in taxes while allegedly spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury items.
The “full and unconditional pardon” covers both the gun charges and federal tax evasion, for which Hunter was due to be sentenced on 12 December and 16 December respectively.
Hunter was set to be sentenced on both criminal cases later this month. Pic: Reuters
‘Enough is enough’
In the statement, President Biden continued to say the charges against Hunter “came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election”.
The 82-year-old then said Hunter’s plea deal “agreed to by the Department of Justice, unravelled in the courtroom – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process”.
Noting Hunter’s battle with addiction, the president added: “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.
“There has been 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.”
Read more on the Bidens:
President Biden pardons two turkeys
Hunter: Republicans trying to ‘kill me’
U-turn from president
President Biden then said: “For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded.”
He insisted “I believe in the justice system,” but said he believes “raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” before adding: “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.”
It marks a U-turn from the president, however, as he had previously categorically ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son.
President Biden told reporters as Hunter faced trial in the Delaware gun case: “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”
And as recently as 8 November – the day after Donald Trump was declared the winner in the 2024 election – White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ruled out a pardon or clemency for Hunter.
“We’ve been asked that question multiple times,” she said. “Our answer stands, which is no.”
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Hunter was also found guilty on charges related to gun possession and drug use. Pic: Reuters
Hunter: Cases were ‘political sport’
In a separate statement on Sunday, Hunter said he has “admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction”, but said those mistakes “have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport”.
He added: “In recovery we can be given the opportunity to make amends where possible and rebuild our lives if we never take for granted the mercy that we have been afforded.
“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.”
In response to the pardon, Mr Trump took to Truth Social to call for the release of those imprisoned for the 6 Janaury riots, asking: “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?”
As of 6 August, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said approximately 562 defendants who were sentenced over charges relating to storming the Capitol Building were jailed.
The president-elect then said: “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
The man accused of killing right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk has appeared in person at court for the first time.
Tyler Robinson, 22, from Utah, is charged with aggravated murder in relation to the shooting of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem.
Charlie Kirk pictured in December 2024. Pic: Reuters
Video of the incident showed Kirk, 31, and a staunch ally of Donald Trump, reaching up with his right hand after a gunshot was heard as blood came out from the left side of his neck. He died shortly after.
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.
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How the Charlie Kirk shooting unfolded
On Wednesday’s appearance at Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, Robinson arrived in court with restraints on his wrists and ankles and wearing a dress shirt, tie and slacks.
Read more: What we can learn about suspect from charging document
According to the Associated Press, he smiled at family members sitting in the front row of the courtroom, where his mother teared up and wiped her eyes with a tissue.
He made previous court appearances via video or audio feed from jail.
Pic: AP
The shooting happened during Kirk’s “prove me wrong” series, which saw the father of two visit campuses and debate contentious subjects; in this case, he was discussing mass shootings.
Prosecutors say the bullet which struck Kirk’s neck “passed closely to several other individuals”, including the person questioning him as part of the event.
President Trump comforts Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika at his memorial service in Arizona in September. Pic: Reuters
A charging document about Robinson from September includes incriminating texts sent between the alleged shooter and his roommate after Kirk’s death.
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Judge Tony Graf also heard arguments on Wednesday about whether cameras and media should be allowed in the courtroom, with Robinson’s lawyers and the Utah County Sheriff’s Office asking for them to be banned.
Mr Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, has called for full transparency and said “we deserve to have cameras in there”.
The judge has already made allowances to protect Robinson’s presumption of innocence before a trial, agreeing that the case has drawn “extraordinary” public attention
US
US won’t ‘stand by and watch sanctioned vessels’, warns White House after tanker seized off Venezuela
The US will not “stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas”, the White House has warned, after American forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters she would not speak about future ship seizures, but said the US would continue to follow Donald Trump‘s sanction policies.
“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world,” she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefing the media. Pic: Reuters
The US is gearing up to intercept more ships, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
One source said several more sanctioned tankers had been identified by the US for potential seizure.
Two of the people said the US Justice Department and Homeland Security had been planning the seizures for months.
American forces were monitoring vessels in Venezuelan ports and waiting for them to sail into international waters before taking action, one source added.
It comes after a crude oil tanker, named Skipper, on Wednesday was stormed by US forces executing a seizure warrant.
The ship left Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between 4 and 5 December after loading about 1.1 million barrels of oil, according to satellite information analysed by TankerTrackers.com and internal shipping data from Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.
A still from a video of US forces seizing a Venezuelan oil tanker, posted by Pam Bondi. Pic: X/@AGPamBondi
The real reason for Donald Trump’s Venezuela exploits
Donald Trump wants you to know that there is one leading reason why he is bearing down militarily on Venezuela: drugs.
It is, he has said repeatedly, that country’s part in the production and smuggling of illegal narcotics into America that lies behind the ratcheting up of forces in the Caribbean in recent weeks. But what if there’s something else going on here too? What if this is really all about oil?
In one respect this is clearly preposterous. After all, the United States is, by a country mile, the world’s biggest oil producer. Venezuela is a comparative minnow these days, the 21st biggest producer in the world, its output having been depressed under the Chavez and then Maduro regimes. Why should America care about Venezuelan oil?
For the answer, one needs to spend a moment – strange as this will sound – contemplating the chemistry of oil…
US attorney general Pam Bondi said on X, formerly Twitter, that the ship was “used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran”.
“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations,” she added.
Ms Leavitt said that “the United States does intend to get the oil” that was onboard the vessel.
The government in Caracas, led by President Nicolas Maduro, branded the ship’s seizure a “blatant theft” and an “act of international piracy”.
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The US has been ramping up the pressure on Mr Maduro and is reportedly considering trying to oust him. It has piled on sanctions, carried out a military build-up in the southern Caribbean, and launched attacks on suspected drug vessels from Venezuela.
Now America has issued new sanctions targeting Franqui Flores, Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, and Carlos Erik Malpica Flores – three nephews of Mr Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores – as well as on six crude oil tankers and six shipping companies linked to them.
Skipper. Credit: TankerTrackers
By seizing oil tankers, the US is threatening Mr Maduro’s government’s main revenue source – oil exports.
The sources said the US was focusing on what’s been called the shadow fleet – tankers transporting sanctioned oil to China, the biggest buyer of crude from Venezuela and Iran.
They said one shipper had already temporarily suspended three voyages transporting six million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil.
“The cargoes were just loaded and were about to start sailing to Asia,” a source said.
“Now the voyages are cancelled and tankers are waiting off the Venezuelan coast as it’s safer to do that.”
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