The outgoing president Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he had pardoned Hunter’s son, who was awaiting sentencing after his convictions in two cases involving illegal gun possession and tax evasion.

“No reasonable person looking at the facts of the cases involving Hunter can come to any other conclusion than this: Hunter was discriminated against because he was only my son — and that’s unfair,” the outgoing head of state said. , speaking of “mistrial”.

Biden had repeatedly assured that he would not proceed with a presidential pardon for his son. The White House only reaffirmed this in September.

Hunter Biden, 54, pleaded guilty that month in a Los Angeles court to tax fraud, avoiding a new trial.

The former lawyer and businessman, who has now decided to devote himself to painting, was facing charges of tax fraud and tax evasion, because he did not pay taxes due at the federal level from 2016 to 2019, amounts amounting to 1.4 million. dollars, while at the same time spending recklessly on drugs, sex and luxury goods.

Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to a charge of falsely declaring he was not addicted to drugs when buying a handgun, a felony in the Biden stronghold of Delaware. He expected to learn his sentences for the two cases in December.

His father argued that “from the day I took office, I said that I would not interfere in the decision-making process of the Ministry of Justice, and I kept my word, even though I saw my son suffer selective and unfair prosecutions”, in the press release on which was released by the White House.

“The charges in these cases only came about after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me so I wouldn’t get re-elected,” Joe Biden argued.

“I believe in the judicial system, but (…) I also believe that crude political expediency influenced this process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” he added.

“I hope the American people will understand why a father and a president came to this decision,” the elder Biden concluded.