'Americans will understand': Biden pardons son Hunter in a U-turn on past promise ahead of sentencing

As his presidency come to an end in January, US President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on Sunday in two federal cases.

Hunter was convicted of federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges earlier in 2024. He was scheduled to be sentenced in the gun case on December 12 an in the tax case on December 16.

The outgoing president said his son was "selectively and unfairly prosecuted", prompting hims to backtrack on his previous promise that he would not use his presidency to grant clemency for his son.

In September, Hunter pleaded guilty to nine counts of siphoning off $1.4 million in taxes. In June, the first son was convicted of three federal gun charges for possessing a firearm while being addicted to illegal drugs.

Backing his son, the US president said usually no one is put on trial on felony charges just because of how they filled out a gun form unless there are aggravating factors like using it in a crime, multiple purchases and buying firearms as a straw purchaser.

Talking about the tax case, Biden said those who delay tax payment due to serious addictions are given non-criminal resolutions when they pay the interest and penalties later. However, he said Hunter was treated differently and was "singled out because he is my son - and that is wrong."

Hunter was supposed to get immunity under a plea deal earlier this year but it was scrapped later. Biden said if the plea deal held, it would have been "a fair and reasonable resolution" of his son's cases.

Hoping that Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision, Biden said, "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."

"For my entire career, I have followed a simple principle: Just tell the American people the truth. They'll be fair-minded," he added.