Dec. 1 (UPI) — President Joe Biden on Sunday pardoned his son Hunter Biden on weapons and tax evasion convictions, a complete reversal from his pledge not to interfere with the duties of the U.S. Justice Department.
“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” Biden said in a statement Sunday night. “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.”
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., issued a statement shortly after the pardon criticizing the president,
“Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities,” Comer said.
“Not only has he falsely claimed that he never met with his son’s foreign business associates and that his son did nothing wrong, but he also lied when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden.”
Comer has led an investigation into the Biden family since January. Despite producing no evidence of wrongdoing by the president, Comer continues to label Biden the head of the “Biden Crime Family,” and in his statement Sunday said “It’s unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability.”
In his statement Sunday, Biden said it was clear that his son was “treated differently” than other people who have faced similar circumstances, and that Hunter Biden was “singled out because he is my son.”
The president blamed his political opponents for instigating the charges to oppose Biden’s election.
“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 continued.
The president said as recently as last month that he had no plans to pardon his son. He did not address his reversal in his Sunday statement.
The younger Biden said in a statement that he has taken accountability and responsibility for his mistakes “during the darkest days of my addiction.”
“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,” Hunter Biden continued.
The younger Biden pleaded guilty to three separate felony charges in connection with his purchase of a revolver in 2018 when he was battling addiction and substance abuse issues, and to nine tax evasion charges in September. He was scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 12 on the gun convictions and on Dec. 16 in the tax evasion cases.
Hunter Biden was guilty of falsifying information on paperwork when he bought the firearm while addicted to crack cocaine. Federal law prohibits people addicted to drugs from owning weapons.
The “full and complete pardon” comes just several weeks before Biden’s term ends and President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Both Bidens were frequent targets of Trump, who singled out the younger Biden for the weapons and tax evasion charges, as well as a 2020 controversy involving data from a laptop Hunter Biden owned.
Hunter Biden faced up to 17 years in federal prison on the gun and tax evasion convictions, but was widely expected to serve much less time.