Bush, Carter Didn’t Pardon Relatives, Contrary to Posts

On Dec. 1, President Joe Biden granted his son, Hunter, “a full and unconditional pardon” for any crimes “he has committed or may have committed” between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 1, 2024.

In June, Hunter Biden was convicted of three felonies related to his purchase and possession of a Cobra Colt revolver in 2018. According to the prosecution, the president’s son violated federal law by owning the gun as an active drug user and by lying about his drug use on a federal form necessary to purchase the gun. The sentencing trial for the case was scheduled for Dec. 12.

In September, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes for tax years 2016 through 2019. The sentencing trial for that case was scheduled for Dec. 16.

Joe Biden is one of a few presidents who have pardoned a relative. In 2001, on his last day in office, then-President Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother, Roger Clinton, who was sentenced to two years in prison in 1985 for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. In December 2020, then-President Donald Trump pardoned his daughter Ivanka’s father-in-law, Charles Kushner, who was sentenced to two years in prison in 2005 for filing false tax returns, making false statements to the FEC and retaliating against a witness.