Biden pardons son in cases related to arms and taxes

Yashwant Raj

Washington, Dec 2 (IANS) US President Joe Biden on Sunday pardoned his son Hunter Biden of conviction in gun-related charges in Delaware and has pleaded guilty to tax evasion in California. 

Biden reversed his earlier pledge in doing that to not pardon his son.

"Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter," Biden said in a statement.

"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 watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted. 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 is the President's only surviving son, younger to Beau Biden, who was a war veteran and attorney general of the family's home state Delaware.

Hunter Biden was convicted on two counts of filing false information on forms he filled out to buy a firearm in 2018. He had lied that he was not using narcotics at the time. And the third count refers to possessing a firearm when he was using drugs. He was tried in a federal court in Wilmington, the family's hometown in Delaware state. They took only three hours to reach the verdict after the two sides wrapped up their final arguments pronounced on Monday.

At the time of Hunter Biden's conviction in June, President Biden had said, "As I said last week, I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery. As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal. Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that."

Hunter Biden was facing 25 years for conviction in the arms case and more than a decade for tax evasion.

Biden said in the Sunday statement: "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. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the courtroom -- with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal been held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter's cases."

The President further said, "No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion that 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."

In conclusion, Biden added, "For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They'll be fair-minded. Here's the truth: 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 -- and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision."

--IANS

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