President Biden on Sunday pardoned his son Hunter, who was convicted of illegally buying a handgun in Delaware and pleaded guilty to tax charges in Los Angeles.
In explaining his controversial action — which came just weeks before the president’s son was convicted by federal judges in both chambers — Biden said his son was the victim of an unfair political attack. Biden previously said he would not forgive Hunter.
“The charges against him came only after many of my political opponents in Congress encouraged them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said in a statement released Sunday. “No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s charges would come to any other conclusion than that Hunter was singled out because he is my son—and that is wrong.
“There was an attempt to break Hunter – who has not eaten for five and a half years, even in the face of constant attacks and special persecution. In trying to break Hunter, they tried to break me – and there is no reason to believe that it will stop here. Enough is enough,” he said.
In June, Hunter Biden was convicted of gun crimes, including lying that he was drug-free when he made a purchase and that he had a gun for a short time while he was addicted to cocaine.
The verdict capped a week-long trial in which prosecutors received testimony from Biden’s ex-wife, ex-girlfriend and sister-in-law-turned-lover. All spoke in vivid detail about his drug and alcohol addiction, with First Lady Jill Biden often front and center.
Biden was in court on three charges, and the judge acquitted him on all three. In addition to lying on a federal background check form and making a false statement to a federal gun dealer, he was convicted of possession of a firearm while using illegal drugs.
At the time, President Biden said he would “accept the outcome of the case” and continue to “respect the judicial process” while his son considered an appeal.
In September, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to all nine federal tax charges against him, just as jury selection was about to begin in Los Angeles city court.
The indictment includes harrowing details of Biden’s life between 2016 and 2019 — a period in which he now admits he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes — including hundreds of thousands of dollars he spent on escorts, a pornographic website, hotels, luxury car rentals and other personal expenses. luxurious.
Prosecutors allege, among other things, that Biden improperly classified personal expenses as business expenses and paid his income taxes late.
Hunter Biden has long been a favorite of conservatives, the right-wing media and his father’s political opponents.
The younger Biden has faced questions about his foreign business dealings, particularly his seat on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas company he joined in 2014 when his father was vice president. Hunter Biden was paid millions by this company. He denies any wrongdoing.
Hunter Biden now lives in Malibu, where he practices the ritual of painting every day.
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