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Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter over convictions on gun and tax charges in an extraordinary reversal of his promise not to use executive powers to benefit his son just months before the end of his presidency.
In a statement on Sunday night, the US president accused political opponents in Congress of “instigating” the charges against Hunter to attack him.
“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 said.
“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,” Biden added.
The pardon ends a tumultuous period for the first family that began just months after Joe Biden’s electoral victory in 2020, when his son disclosed he was under federal investigation.
Hunter’s legal troubles have been a political headache for his father ever since.
In June, he was convicted on three felony counts of lying in a federal background check when purchasing a handgun. The trial featured detailed testimony about his crack cocaine addiction and his romantic relationship with his brother’s widow.
Hunter Biden also pleaded guilty to tax charges last month in a Los Angeles federal court. He was accused of evading $1.4mn in taxes, some through inappropriate business deductions. He allegedly spent the cash on items including cars, drugs, and prostitutes.
The president has issued multiple statements supporting his son, but he has also said he would not pardon him.
On Sunday evening, Biden said the legal attacks were part of “an effort to break Hunter”, adding that he had reached his decision to pardon his son over the weekend.
This is a developing story
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