The White House has defended President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter, after repeatedly insisting he had no plans to grant such executive clemency.
The press secretary said Biden had pardoned his son, who was facing sentencing later this month in two federal cases, to shield him from potential persecution by the outgoing president’s political foes.
The sweeping pardon covers any potential federal crimes that 54-year-old Hunter may have committed over the course of a decade.
Republicans have lambasted the move, with President-elect Donald Trump calling it “an abuse and miscarriage of justice”.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday that Biden had “wrestled” over the decision during the family’s Thanksgiving break on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, at the weekend.
The Democratic president issued the pardon on Sunday evening before heading off on an official trip to Africa.
Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One en route to Angola: “He believes in the justice system, but he also believes that the raw politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice.”
Jean-Pierre said Biden believed Hunter was “singled out” because of who he is and that “they [the president’s opponents] would continue to go after his son”.
“This is why the president took this action,” she added. As recently as last month, Ms Jean-Pierre was still telling reporters that Biden would not pardon his son.
In June, Hunter Biden became the first child of a sitting US president to be criminally convicted after a jury in Delaware found him guilty of three charges for lying about his drug use on a form when buying a handgun.
In September, he also pleaded guilty to federal tax charges that included failure to file and pay his taxes, tax evasion and filing a false return.
The pardon – which covers any potential federal crimes that he may have committed between January 2014 and December 2024 – spans a period beyond the tax and gun offences.
It dates back to the year in which he became a board member at Ukrainian energy company Burisma – a time when his father, then US vice-president, had a key role in American policy towards Kyiv.
A congressional inquiry this summer accused Biden of lying when he disavowed any involvement in his son’s business dealings, though the impeachment effort by Republican lawmakers fizzled. Biden denied wrongdoing.
