Just two weeks before getting sworn into office, President Biden promised the public he would pursue a “restoration of democracy, of decency, of honor, of respect, the rule of law.”
Four years later, Biden, 82, gave his troubled son Hunter, 54, an unusually broad, “full and unconditional” pardon spanning roughly 11 years that flagrantly broke his repeated public promises not to meddle in the high-profile affair.
Both Biden and the White House told the public nearly a dozen times that the president would not pardon his son — both before and after Hunter was convicted of gun charges and pleaded guilty to tax felonies earlier this year.
Plea deal collapse
In July last year, shortly after Hunter Biden’s no-jail plea agreement imploded in court, the White House clarified the president’s stance against a pardon.
“No,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre simply told reporters at the time.
With the plea deal up in flames, after a judge exposed daylight between the defense and prosecution over whether Hunter Biden would enjoy blanket immunity, it was clear at the time that he was at serious risk of a conviction.
“This is a personal matter for Hunter Biden, this is a personal issue,” Jean-Pierre also told reporters at the time. “This has been done in an independent way by the Department of Justice, it has been led by a Trump-appointed prosecutor.”
September 2023
After special counsel David Weiss indicted the Biden scion on three counts for lying about his crack cocaine addiction when purchasing a firearm in October 2018, Jean-Pierre reiterated the White House’s position on a pardon.
“I’ve answered this question before. It was asked of me not too long ago, a couple of weeks ago, and I was very clear, and I said no,” she told reporters in September 2023.
December 2023
Against the backdrop of Weiss’ team announcing nine charges against Hunter Biden over the tax evasion case, the White House flack again insisted that the president hadn’t changed his mind.
“Nothing has changed,” she told reporters on Air Force One during a gaggle. “That is still the case.”
Biden declares he won’t pardon Hunter
Finally, last June, while his scandal-scarred son was on trial for the three-count firearm case, the president publicly declared that he wouldn’t issue a pardon.
“Yes,” the president said in a terse reply when asked by ABC News’ David Muir if he had ruled out a pardon.
The 82-year-old also admonished his then-rival former President Donald Trump for railing against the justice system as he grappled with 88 criminal counts at the time, most of which have since gone away.
“He’s trying to undermine it,” Biden argued at the time. “He got a fair trial. The jury spoke.”
Hunter gets convicted
After his son got convicted, the president insisted he would accept the outcome of the trial.
“As I said last week, I am the President, but I am also a Dad. I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today,” Biden said in a statement on June 11, 2024. “As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.”
White House reacts to Hunter’s conviction
Jean-Pierre again insisted that the president wouldn’t pardon his son after Hunter Biden was convicted of three charges in the felony gun case.
“I don’t have anything beyond what the president said. He’s been very clear about this,” she told reporters on June 12, 2024.
Five days later, Jean-Pierre added, “Yes, he has,” when pressed whether Biden had ruled out any clemency for his troubled son.
Biden doubles down
About a week later, the president insisted that he was “satisfied” with the trial that his son received in Wilmington, Del., and affirmed he wouldn’t flex his pardon power, going a step further and ruling out commutation as well.
“I am satisfied that I’m not going to do anything,” Biden told reporters during the G7 summit in Italy on June 13, 2024. “I will abide by the jury’s decision. I will do that. And I will not pardon him.”
The president had also scurried down to his home in Wilmington to comfort his son after the jury found him guilty on all three counts in the firearm case.
White House reaffirms after Biden drops out
Shortly after the president threw in the towel and abruptly opted against running for president in 2024 amid a pressure campaign from his party, the White House again insisted he wouldn’t pardon Hunter Biden.
“The president spoke to this in his ABC interview. His comments stand,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates told Fox News at the time.
The president’s campaign flacks had also shot down conjecture that he would withdraw from the 2024 race. Ultimately, he did so.
July 26, 2024
The question about a pardon or comutation came up again in July and Jean-Pierre reaffirmed, “It’s still — it’s still a no. It’s still a no.”
That reply prompted a reporter to ask, “It will always be a no?”
“It’s still a no. It will be a no. It — it is a no. And I don’t have anything else to add. Will he pardon his son? No,” Jean-Pierre added.
Hunter pleads guilty in the tax case
The first son shocked observers by pleading guilty to the nine counts in the tax case against him. And the White House again claimed the president wouldn’t pardon him.
“It’s no, it’s still no,” Jean-Pierre told reporters on Sept. 5.
Donald Trump open to pardoning Hunter
Trump, 78, said during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in late October that he wasn’t ruling out a pardon for Hunter Biden.
“I wouldn’t take it off the books. See, unlike Joe Biden, despite what they’ve done to me, where they’ve gone after me so viciously, despite what — and Hunter’s a bad boy. There’s no question about it. He’s been a bad boy,” Trump said at the time.
Trump’s election victory
Following Trump’s victory in the Nov. 5 election, the White House again re-upped its well-worn denials about a pardon.
“We’ve been asked that question multiple times and our answer stands — which is no,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at a press briefing.
Biden pardons Hunter
On Sunday evening, the president announced his shocking reversal and justified his actions by claiming that his son was treated unfairly by the justice system.
“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,” the president said in a statement.
“It is clear that Hunter was treated differently,” he added. “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.”
Jean-Pierre also rejected the notion that the president’s actions substantiate Trump’s allegations that the justice system “has been weaponized for political purposes.”
“No. Read the president’s statement. Seriously. Read the president’s statement. He said he believes in the Department of Justice,” she told reporters Monday. “He also believes that … politics infected the process, and it led to a miscarriage of justice. He believes his son was unfairly targeted.”
