President Biden pardons son Hunter Biden

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden released a statement Sunday night saying he’s signed a pardon for his son, Hunter Biden. 

The pardon comes after the family spent several days together in Nantucket for Thanksgiving, and is just days ahead of when Hunter Biden was set to face his first of two sentencing hearings. 

The president’s pardon covers Hunter Biden’s trial conviction in the gun case in Delaware and his guilty plea on tax charges in California.

President Biden had repeatedly said that he would not pardon his son or commute his eventual sentence, but said in his statement Sunday that he believes "raw politics infected" the justice process.

"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. "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."

US President Joe Biden, left, and Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden. Photographer: Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Here’s what to know about Hunter Biden’s convictions: 

Hunter Biden gun conviction

In June, Hunter Biden was convicted in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 when, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.

Biden said in his pardon note that, without aggravating factors, "people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form."

READ MORE: Hunter Biden found guilty in gun trial

Hunter Biden sentencing

Hunter Biden was initially scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13, but the judge agreed to delay the hearing until December after Hunter Biden’s lawyers said they needed more time to adequately prepare.

The gun charges were punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though he would likely have faced far less time behind bars or possibly avoided imprisonment entirely.

That sentencing hearing had been scheduled for Dec. 12. 

RELATED: Hunter Biden: a timeline of controversies and legal battles

Hunter Biden tax conviction

Hunter Biden also faced sentencing in a separate case, for federal tax charges he pleaded guilty to in the fall. 

Hunter Biden said he wanted to spare his family another painful ordeal after his gun trial aired salacious and embarrassing details about a time in which he struggled with a crack cocaine addiction. Hunter Biden said he’s been sober since 2019.

The tax charges carried up to 17 years behind bars. He also faced up to $1.35 million in fines.

That sentencing hearing had been scheduled for Dec. 16.

Biden said in his pardon note, "Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently."

Hunter Biden said in an emailed statement that he will never take for granted the relief granted to him and vowed to devote the life he has rebuilt "to helping those who are still sick and suffering."

"I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport," the younger Biden said.

A spokesperson for special counsel David Weiss, who brought the cases, did not respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment Sunday night.

What has Trump said?

In a Truth Social post on Sunday night, Trump suggested that Biden should have pardoned Jan. 6 protesters.

"Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?" Trump wrote. "Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!"

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, who has pledged to dramatically overhaul and install loyalists across the Justice Department after he was prosecuted for his role in trying to subvert the 2020 presidential election, said in a statement, "That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people."