Monday, December 2, 2024
Islamabad (News International / Pakistan New - DW News - 02 December 2024) Outgoing US President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter Biden after he was convicted in a federal gun and tax case. Although he had earlier promised that as president he would not misuse his powers to pardon his son.
Due to this presidential pardon, Hunter has been spared a possible prison sentence in federal gun and tax cases.
The court had found him guilty in the above-mentioned illegal gun and tax cases, but he was yet to be sentenced. However, the president issued a decree pardoning his son a few weeks before the sentencing.
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It should be noted that in American law, the president has the authority to pardon the sentence of any person if he wishes, but this authority is rarely used.
Meanwhile, the president's son, Hunter Biden, said in an email to the Associated Press that he will never forget the help the president has given him. He vowed to use the life he has rebuilt to "help those who are still suffering from illness and pain."
"I have acknowledged and accepted responsibility for the mistakes I made during the darkest days of my addiction... mistakes that were used to publicly humiliate and embarrass me and my family for political gain," he added.
"Joe Biden could get into trouble because of his son."
What did President Biden say?
Biden called his son's conviction a "miscarriage of justice."
“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can conclude anything other than that Hunter was targeted simply because he is my son … and that is wrong,” the president said in a statement.
Hunter first disclosed that he was under federal investigation in December 2020, just a month before Biden took office.
Biden said the allegations only came to light after “many of my political opponents in Congress pressured me to attack me and oppose my election.”
Biden said he made the decision late this week while he was on the Thanksgiving holiday. "I hope Americans understand why a father and a president came to this decision," he said.
"They tried to break Hunter, who has remained calm for the past five and a half years despite many repeated attacks and election lawsuits. In trying to break Hunter, they tried to break me. I have no reason to believe that this is going to stop now. Enough is enough."
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Pardon move contradicts promises
Biden has used his extraordinary presidential powers at a time when he is preparing to leave the White House and Donald Trump is set to take office on January 20.
The outgoing president has previously promised repeatedly not to use such powers to benefit members of his family, and his move contradicts those promises.
In June, Biden rejected a pardon for Hunter during an ABC News interview.
White House press secretary Karyn Jean-Pierre then reiterated the same promise as recently as November 8, saying, "We've been asked that question many times.
Our answer is clear, it's not going to happen."
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Republicans angry over pardon
Republicans are quite angry with Biden's decision. Republican President-elect Trump called Biden's decision "an abuse of justice and a miscarriage of justice."
He questioned his social media truth, asking, "Does Joe Biden's pardon for Hunter include the J-6 hostages, who have been in prison for years?" By J-6, he meant the prisoners who were arrested for attacking Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.
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Several Republican congressional representatives also expressed their anger on social media.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on social mediaX, "Joe Biden is a liar and a hypocrite from start to finish."
Congressman Andy Biggs said Biden "will be remembered as one of the most corrupt presidents in American history. Hunter Biden is a criminal — but his corrupt father will not allow justice to be served under an administration that follows the rule of law."
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