US President Joe Biden, on December 1, issued a pardon for his son, Hunter Biden. By granting Hunter Biden clemency, Joe Biden has ensured that President-elect Donald Trump cannot reverse this official grant upon assuming office.
- Hunter Biden was awaiting sentencing in two federal cases – one regarding his gun ownership and another alleging tax evasion.
- He was criminally convicted by a jury in June of illegally buying and possessing a gun under the influence of crack cocaine.
- According to US federal law, users of illegal drugs cannot own firearms.
- According to the Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution, a president has the broad “power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment”.
- The U.S. Constitution says that a president has the power to grant clemency, which includes both pardons and commutations.
- A pardon forgives federal criminal offenses; a commutation reduces penalties but isn’t as sweeping.
- However, the President can only issue pardons for federal crimes, and not for state crimes.
- In Hunter Biden’s case, the pardon means legal forgiveness for his crimes and eliminates the possibility of jail time. Thus, the judges overseeing his cases will likely cancel the sentencing hearings, which were slated for December 12 in the gun case and December 16 in the tax case.
- Biden is not the first president to use pardoning powers for those close to him. Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and multiple allies involved in the Russia investigation. Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother Roger Clinton for drug charges and his former business partner Susan McDougal for her role in the Whitewater controversy.
