White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was pressed on Monday about President Joe Biden's decision to reverse course and pardon his son Hunter Biden.
Jean-Pierre said the president "agonized" over the decision and ultimately felt Hunter Biden was treated unfairly.
The pardon came months after Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to federal tax charges and was found guilty in a separate firearms case.
"Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter," President Biden said. "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. Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form. 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."
RELATED STORY | Hunter Biden pleads guilty in federal tax evasion case
Hunter Biden faced more than a decade behind bars and was due to be sentenced this month in the firearms case.
"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," the president said. "There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.
In the tax fraud case, the president's son was accused of engaging in a four-year scheme to evade paying taxes totaling at least $1.4 million and falsifying some of his tax returns by claiming personal spending as business expenses.
Hunter Biden's conduct has long been fodder for Republicans who have held numerous congressional inquiries. Some Republicans have accused Garland and the Department of Justice of giving Hunter Biden favorable treatment.
Republicans have also accused then-Vice President Biden of using his influence to help his son's business career.
The president referenced those Republicans in his statement.
"The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election," President Biden said. "Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases."
The president added, "For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision."
On Monday, Weis told a court that the cases against Hunter Biden should not be dismissed. While prosecutors do not dispute the pardon, they do not believe the charges should be wiped away completely — meaning they should remain on Hunter Biden's record.
