President Biden with his son, Hunter who was issued a full and unconditional pardon by his father
Thursday, 13 Mar 2025
Exclusive insights, data, and analysis for financial market experts.
Search
Have an existing account?
Sign In
President Biden issued the following statement on Sunday night.
Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter.
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.
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 noncriminal resolutions.
It is clear that Hunter was treated differently. 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.
Advertisement
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 held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.
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.
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. For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded.
Advertisement
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.
Executive Grant of Clemency
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President of the United States of America
To All to Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greeting:
Be It Known, That This Day, I, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States, Pursuant to My Powers Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Constitution, Have Granted Unto
ROBERT HUNTER BIDEN
A Full and Unconditional Pardon
For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss in Docket No. 1:23-cr-00061-MN in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and Docket No. 2:23-CR-00599-MCS-1 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto signed my name and caused the Pardon to be recorded with the Department of Justice.
Done at the City of Washington this 1st day of December in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States the Two Hundred and Forty-ninth.
If you think that’s controversial, buckle up.
Pardon everyone do it
All I’m going to say is that presidential pardons shouldn’t exist.
Subverting the courts is the sort of thing Monarchs do – The U.S was founded to get away from that shit, so it is baffling to me that presidential pardons ever became a thing.
It seems a little unethical that you’re allowed to pardon family like that, but Trump pardoned his son-in-law’s father, so I guess this is just what politics is now? What a world we live in..
Noticed we are in the most interesting point of history:
– A standing president pardoned his criminal son
– Our upcoming president is literally charged with tax evasion and book cooking crimes
Ladies and gentlemen, if you have fought over these & lost friends and families – go apologize because politicians don’t give a simple flying fuck to people. God bless America 🇺🇸
I had never seen a picture of his son before. I thought son and imagined a person in their twenties or thirties. I guess it makes sense he is actually an old man himself.
The hypocrisy in these comments is astounding
Watching Reddit saying Biden should be condemned if he ever did this, but he would never do it (a few months ago) to celebrating this, is just too good.
I hope he resigns with a couple of weeks to go. Should screw pumpkin spice on a bunch of “47” merch,
“No one is above the law” – Joe Biden
Hey…whatcha want me to with this old laptop I found in the broom closet label Exibit A – Hunter Biden’s laptop
– Janitor at Fox News
Gotta love when the rich and powerful get away with it 😊
And then they sniffed each others hair.
That’s crazy. If an action could show someone’s really guilty it would be this. Why hasn’t he been impeached yet?
And people still think the US is a democracy.
Politics is so corrupt and dirty and anybody who thinks it’s only on one side is delusional
I sure as hell would pardon my son, if I was in that position.
Not surprising, most people would do this if it was their son. They’re saying the same thing in the conservative subs as well. Doesn’t really tarnish his reputation with me, I’m happy he was my president.
The only issue i have is that he gave a well written statement instead of saying “I pardoned Hunter. Suck my dick MAGA, were done pearl clutching.”
Remember just three weeks ago when everyone was praising him for promising he wouldn’t pardon his son? Everyone kept pointing out how the Democratic Party stood for the idea that no one was above the law, insisting only Republicans and “a fascist like Trump” would do something like that. And now? Suddenly, he’s being praised for doing exactly that—because apparently, anyone in his position would’ve done the same. Now it’s all about how he’s “finally playing Trump’s game.”
What an incredible shift in rhetoric.
Might as well.
The Dems allowed the GOP to meddle in the case of a private citizen solely based on that citizen’s relation to the pres. I wish they decided to fight any of the GOP’s bullshit earlier…
So basically the lesson here is that no matter who you are in America, money and status will always prevail.
This “pardon” bullshit is something that is obviously being abused and should be severely limited. Pardoning your family, friends, colleagues, co-conspirators, lawyers, campaign managers, etc. etc. etc., shouldn’t be allowed. People are so happy Hunter is being pardoned but I think it’s rubbish. Presidents shouldn’t be allowed to do this. He protected his son, but added to this disgusting precedent and God knows how much Trump and his ilk will do in the next four.
How many pardons does one person get. Honest question
Having trouble caring since most of the country also does not care about corruption, nepotism, law, order, justice, or morality. So, whatever. Why not.
What’s next? Is he going to pardon his son in laws father then offer him a position as an ambassador? Oh, wrong president.
This is a good sign because democrats have been playing by the status quo while republicans have been saying one thing, doing another, and basically saying get over it. I hope this is a split of face for democrats who have consistently showed up to a gun fight with a knife. It’s time to play the game as callously as the far right has but doing so with more integrity than DJT and his circus.
Besides… if any of us had the opportunity to pardon our children, we probably would.
Reddit in a nutshell –
“Tax the rich! stop the political corruption & corporate collusion!”
– Biden Pardons his own son on felony Tax Fraud & evasion charges
“Yeah Joe! Lets go finally giving trump some of his own medicine!”
This place is actually a digitised form of Owellian hell.
What bothers me most is the hypocrisy.
Reddit would be in a fucking uproar if Trump pardoned his son, rightfully so.
I am totally against this. I am disappointed but not surprised.
But I thought nobody was above the law?
Love to see it. Not sure the MAGA crowd will lol though not sure hypocritical is in their vocabulary.
Okay now pardon every single person doing time for weed.
Y’all know this corrupt no matter what side you’re on.
What was he found guilty of to be pardoned?
Seems like he’s covering up anything illegal Hunter may have done with regard to his time in Ukraine before Trump takes office.
Disgusting
He could’ve done a full pardon to every single non violent drug offender and didn’t give a fuck but he won’t. Because he’s Biden.
Message received: Crime is ok if your daddy is powerful in America. Funny everyone celebrating this…especially left-leaning people (I thought it was all about equal opportunity?)
Lying POS.
Now Pardon everyone with a weed charge.
Coulda sworn Biden said he would NOT be pardoning his son
Here comes some both-sides-same bullshit.
I understand why he did it, but it’s gross.