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'Miscarriage of Justice': Trump on Biden pardoning son Hunter
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years,” Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Donald Trump reacted sharply to US President Joe Biden's pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, questioning whether the move included the prisoners detained in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot, who have now been incarcerated for years.
"Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice," Trump posted on Truth Social.
The pardon, issued just days before Hunter Biden was set to face sentencing in two federal cases related to tax evasion and gun charges, has drawn significant attention. hunter had been convicted on three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 while lying about his drug use, as well as for failing to pay over $1 million in taxes. However, the Biden family’s legal troubles are far from over, and the decision to grant a pardon before sentencing has sparked a fierce debate.
The move is especially notable as Biden had previously ruled out such action. In June, he firmly stated he would not pardon Hunter, and even after Trump’s election victory, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed the notion. In an about-face, the president announced his decision to pardon Hunter Biden on Sunday, citing the political nature of the legal cases against his son and the influence of political opponents in pursuing the charges.
Biden’s pardon not only covers the gun and tax convictions but extends to any other potential offenses committed by Hunter Biden between 2014 and 2024.
The decision, made after a Thanksgiving weekend with Hunter in Nantucket, Massachusetts, marked a decisive shift for President Biden, who had previously pledged to distance his family from his presidential decisions. In his statement, Biden said, “I believe raw politics has infected this process, and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” asserting that Hunter was “singled out only because he is my son.”
Charges against Hunter Biden
Hunter Biden was convicted in June 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.
Hunter Biden said he was pleading guilty in that case to spare his family more pain and embarrassment after the gun trial aired salacious details about his struggles with a crack cocaine addiction.
The tax charges carry up to 17 years behind bars and the gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines were expected to call for far less time and it was possible he would have avoided prison time entirely.
Hunter Biden was supposed to be sentenced this month in the two federal cases, which the special counsel brought after a plea deal with prosecutors that likely would have spared him prison time fell apart under scrutiny by a judge. Under the original deal, Hunter was supposed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and and would have avoided prosecution in the gun case as long as he stayed out of trouble for two years.
