Full written statement from President Joe Biden on his decision forgive his son:
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 watched my son be selectively and unjustly prosecuted. Without aggravating factors such as use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a gun as a straw buyer, people are almost never charged with a misdemeanor charge solely because of the way they filled out a gun form. Those who pay their taxes late due to serious addictions, but then pay them back with interest and penalties, typically receive non-criminal resolutions. Clearly, Hunter was treated differently.
The charges in his cases only came about after several of my political opponents in Congress incited them to attack me and oppose my election. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal negotiated by the Justice Department unraveled in court — with some of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for putting political pressure on the trial. Had the plea deal stood, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.
No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s cases could come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. Efforts have been made to break Hunter, who has been sober for five and a half years, even in the face of persistent attacks and selective prosecution. By breaking Hunter, they tried to break me too – and there’s no reason to think it will stop there. Enough is enough.
Throughout my career, I have followed a simple principle: Just tell the American people the truth. They will be honest. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I struggle with this, I also believe that raw politics has infected this process and led to a miscarriage of justice – and when I made this decision this weekend, it made no sense anymore to postpone it even further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.