White House finally declares Biden won’t commute Hunter’s sentence even if he gets prison time
WASHINGTON — President Biden won’t spare his son Hunter from serving a prison sentence if he’s ordered to serve time following his conviction on federal gun felonies, the White House clarified Monday — after it suggested last week the 81-year-old president might be open to the possibility.
“President Biden has ruled out any type of pardon or commutation or reduced sentence for his son, Hunter Biden?” RealClearPolitics reporter Philip Wegmann asked press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at her regular briefing.
“Yes, he has,” Jean-Pierre responded.
Both Jean-Pierre and Biden himself said last week that the president had ruled out a “pardon” following the 54-year-old first son’s conviction June 11 on three counts that carry a maximum of 25 years behind bars.
“I will not pardon him,” Biden said Thursday during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the G7 summit in southern Italy, his first public remarks on the matter.
The president did not specifically say whether he would use his presidential clemency powers to commute his son’s sentence during the press conference — though he appeared to answer in the negative leaving the stage as reporters, who weren’t sure if the president heard their questions, shouted followups.
Jean-Pierre on Wednesday pointed to Biden’s June 6 remarks to ABC News while side-stepping a journalist’s question about whether the president would “would commute the sentence” of his only living son, who ultimately could get a sentence as light as probation.
“I haven’t spoken to the president about this since the verdict came out, and as we all know, the sentencing hasn’t even been scheduled yet,” Jean-Pierre said at the time.
“I’ve not spoken to the president about this, and what I’m saying is, he was asked about a pardon. He was asked about the trial, specifically, and he answered it very clearly, very forthright.”
A date has not yet been set for Hunter’s sentencing in Delaware on the gun charges — which stemmed from his purchase of a .38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018 through lying about his drug use on federal paperwork.
Hunter Biden faces a second federal trial beginning Sept. 5 in Los Angeles on charges related to $1.4 million in alleged tax fraud between 2016 and 2019.
It’s possible Biden will change his mind about granting clemency to his son before leaving office and follow in the footsteps of former presidents Bill Clinton, who pardoned his brother Roger Clinton, and Donald Trump, who pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The most controversial pardons generally are reserved for a president’s final weeks, days or hours in office.
Biden has insisted he won’t spare his son from legal consequences as he argues that Trump should cease criticism of his own criminal conviction May 30 in New York on charges that he falsified business records to conceal 2016 “hush money” payments.
Hunter Biden walked away from a probation-only plea deal last July over demands for broad immunity for past conduct, including alleged violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which could implicate his dad.
Evidence including photos, emails and witness statements indicates that Joe Biden interacted with his son and first brother James Biden’s associates from two Chinese government-linked business ventures and others from Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia and Ukraine, including while he was sitting vice president and controlling US foreign policy toward those countries.
