--- title: 6 Reasons Why Joe Biden Pardoned His Son Hunter description: Joe Biden's decision wasn't just about whether to keep his son out of prison. Here's why he decided to pardon Hunter. canonical: https://time.com/7199383/biden-pardon-hunter/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-12-02T21:30:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:48:55.824Z article:section: Politics og:title: 6 Reasons Why Joe Biden Pardoned His Son Hunter og:description: Joe Biden's decision wasn't just about whether to keep his son out of prison. Here's why he decided to pardon Hunter. og:url: https://time.com/7199383/biden-pardon-hunter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc3c22f93d568e89/698b246ecabb1dee28e5bb30/GettyImages-2156356245.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Hunter Biden Gun Trial Continues In Delaware og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 6 Reasons Why Joe Biden Pardoned His Son Hunter twitter:description: Joe Biden's decision wasn't just about whether to keep his son out of prison. Here's why he decided to pardon Hunter. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc3c22f93d568e89/698b246ecabb1dee28e5bb30/GettyImages-2156356245.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 02:26 video:published: 2024-12-02 section: politics topics: presidential pardon, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, federal gun conviction, tax case, White House reversal, pardon power, sentencing, Charles Kushner pardon, Mueller investigation, family and presidential power genre: news report, political analysis tones: serious, analytical, factual, critical emotions: surprise (medium), concern (medium), scrutiny (medium) sentiment: neutral audience: news followers, political observers, general public, legal and policy watchers people: Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Donald Trump, Charles Kushner, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Robert Mueller organizations: White House content_suitability: politics [00:00-02:26]; crime [00:00-01:24] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # 6 Reasons Why Joe Biden Pardoned Hunter Biden > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=04cf05c8-6d13-4994-acb6-34459edfb2df&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Joe Biden Pardons His Son Hunter After Previously Saying He Wouldn’t [Watch (HLS stream): President Joe Biden Pardons His Son Hunter After Previously Saying He Wouldn’t](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eO27jxXD.m3u8) (2:26)  _Published 2024-12-02. President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, on Sunday night, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video reports on President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter following federal gun and tax convictions. It explains that the White House had repeatedly said the president would not take this action, and it relays the reasons given in Biden's statement. It describes the timing of the pardon just before sentencing and the two separate cases involved. It also notes a precedent of presidents using pardon power to benefit family members and close allies, and anticipates questions Biden may face. ## Key points - The pardon wipes the slate clean and ensures Hunter Biden will not be incarcerated as he prepared for sentencing. (00:07) - The White House had repeatedly said over many weeks that the president did not intend to issue this pardon. (00:14) - In his statement, Biden said Hunter was singled out in a miscarriage of justice and prosecuted because he was the president's son. (00:22) - Biden concluded the cases were unfair and said Hunter deserves credit for turning his life around since the conduct occurred. (00:36) - The pardons came in the final weeks of Biden's tenure and in the days before Hunter was to be sentenced. (00:58) - Hunter was convicted in a gun case in Delaware and pleaded guilty in a separate tax case in California. (01:07) - In December 2020, then President Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, father of Jared Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump. (01:49) - Trump also pardoned multiple close allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. (02:04) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:14] Biden pardons Hunter after convictions. Announces the pardon, which wipes the slate clean and spares Hunter Biden from incarceration. - [00:14 to 00:58] Reversal and Biden's stated reasoning. Explains that the White House had said no pardon was planned and relays Biden's claim of an unfair prosecution. - [00:58 to 01:41] Timing before sentencing and the two cases. Describes the pardon's timing and the Delaware gun case and California tax case. - [01:41 to 02:26] Precedent and questions ahead. Notes Trump's earlier pardons of Kushner and Mueller-probe allies and says Biden faces questions. ## Key quotes - [00:07] Reporter: "This is an announcement that wipes the slate clean and" - [00:28] Reporter: "he had concluded that Hunter Biden was singled out in" - [00:31] Reporter: "a miscarriage of justice and was prosecuted because he was the president's son." - [01:41] Reporter: "But it is also the case that it is not the first time that a president has" - [02:15] Reporter: "you know, family members, people close to them." - [02:18] Reporter: "But there's no question that in doing this," ## Questions this video answers - What did President Biden's pardon of Hunter Biden accomplish? [00:07] - Why did Biden say he pardoned his son? [00:22] - Had the White House previously said Biden would not pardon Hunter? [00:14] - What were the two criminal cases Hunter Biden faced? [01:07] - When was the pardon issued relative to Hunter Biden's sentencing? [00:58] - Is there precedent for presidents pardoning family members or allies? [01:41] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-02:26]: Discusses a presidential pardon of a family member, the White House reversal and past pardons by another president. - crime [00:00-01:24]: References federal felony gun and tax convictions and the sentencing that the pardon averts.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Dec 2, 2024 9:30 PM UTC President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, on Sunday night, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Dec 2, 2024 9:30 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ Publicly, Joe Biden never wavered. Privately, those close to him [believed](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/its-setback-democrats-criticize-biden-over-hunter-pardon) that the President would eventually intervene and end the federal prosecutions against his son. Sunday evening’s surprise announcement of a sweeping pardon for Hunter Biden sent Washington ablaze with [outrage](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/12/02/joe-biden-parting-insult-hunter-biden-pardon-00192113). Talk turned to what this about-face would mean for the President’s [legacy](https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/01/politics/joe-biden-pardon-reversal-analysis/index.html), the impact it might have on the Justice Department’s already battered [credibility](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/briefing/a-pardon-for-hunter-biden.html), and whether President-elect Donald Trump, himself a [convicted felon](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/05/trump-hunter-biden-trial-00161687), would accept the pardon as the final word. It all felt very loud, very urgent—and, to some, very predictable. Yet, when you take a look at Biden’s choice—making use of a power [guaranteed](https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artII-S2-C1-3-1/ALDE%5F00013316/) in the Constitution with very few limits—it starts to make some sense. Yes, Biden flip-flopped on a pretty absolute [pledge](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceql5v5v0xlo) not to exercise the right to spare his son. Yes, it flies in the face of Democrats’ long-standing criticism about Trump, that no one should be [above the law](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/rest-world-us-president-has-always-been-above-law) regardless of ties to the Oval Office. And, yes, this is going to dog Biden’s final weeks in office in ways that could distract from his urgent work to build a legacy after a half-century in public life. But all those criticisms ignore a bigger truth: Joe Biden faced a trickier decision than whether or not to keep his only living son out of prison. Many will ding it as an entirely selfish move by a guilty father going with his gut. Yet, in a way, this was maybe the most considered decision Biden has made this calendar year—and that includes the jarring [announcement](https://time.com/7001028/why-joe-biden-stepped-down/) in July that he would step aside as the Democratic Party’s nominee. Here are the six factors that explain why Biden signed the roughly 200-word order: ## **Trump has made no secret of his desire to keep going after the Bidens.** For years, Hunter Biden and his work for a Ukrainian energy company has been catnip for conservatives—many of whom still believe that the money paid to Hunter for his [work](https://time.com/5733799/ukraine-fears-burisma-probe-trump-hunter-biden-fallout/) on the Burisma board was a bag of cash for the Bidens, with Joe Biden skimming a share from the top. (So much of the GOP case against the Bidens has been [debunked](https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/28/politics/fact-check-house-impeachment-hearing-biden/index.html) and their efforts to [impeach](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/gop-led-house-committees-release-lengthy-report-alleging-president-bid-rcna166954) Joe Biden fell apart.) With Trump about to be back in charge of the Justice Department and FBI—including an FBI potentially led by an outspoken [loyalist](https://time.com/7199186/meet-kash-patel-donald-trump-nomination-for-fbi-director/) who has endorsed Trump’s [vow](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/us/politics/trump-2024-president.html) to trample his foes in retribution—there was a quiet fear that the President-elect would make [hunting](https://www.thebulwark.com/p/in-defense-of-the-hunter-biden-pardon) Hunter Biden’s misdeeds a priority—even if Hunter Biden was already serving out a prison sentence. Joe Biden’s signature on an extraordinarily broad pardon rendered those efforts pointless, as no federal charges can be summoned. ## **Hunter Biden’s cases were handled differently** There is no point disputing this. Most experts [conclude](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/21/hunter-biden-plea-deal-experts-00102996) that for anyone else facing these charges, the cases would have been likely [handled](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/legal-experts-say-charges-hunter-biden-are-rarely-brought-rcna90191) with an in-and-out plea deal, one that was once on the table but [rejected](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/us/politics/inside-hunter-biden-plea-deal.html) by a Trump-appointed judge for its [novel](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/us/politics/biden-pardon-political-pressure.html) sweep. The prosecution became even more novel once the Trump-nominated U.S. Attorney for Delaware [won](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/david-weiss-newly-appointed-hunter-biden-special-counsel-rcna99496) special counsel [standing](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/06/03/who-is-david-weiss-hunter-biden-case/73957344007/) for the Hunter Biden case. With protected standing, Special Counsel David Weiss continued down a path that [yielded](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/joe-biden-issue-pardon-son-hunter-biden-rcna182369) convictions on three federal felony counts for illegally buying a gun and nine guilty pleas on federal tax charges. Hunter Biden was due to be sentenced on the gun conviction on Dec. 12, followed by a Dec. 16 sentencing on the tax evasion plea. If given the maximum penalties—considered unlikely—he would have faced up to 42 years in prison. ## **Inaction was never, really, an option** Yes, Joe Biden flip-flopped with zero apology. Yes, he was running around the world—literally—[telling](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-tells-muir-wouldnt-pardon-son-hunter/story?id=110904482) everyone the justice system worked for both his son and his rival, Trump. Yes, he would take [guff](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/opinion/biden-hunter-pardon-trump.html) from some of the same folks whose approval Biden has chased for decades. But voters rendered their verdict on Biden’s by-the-books approach when they chose to [return](https://time.com/7172052/how-donald-trump-won-2024/) Trump to power. Heck, Trump repeatedly [floated](https://nypost.com/2024/12/01/us-news/donald-trump-vows-to-overhaul-democrat-controlled-doj-after-biden-pardons-son-hunter/) mass pardons for those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress. Voters decided that was appealing—or at least not disqualifying—and chose to give Trump the keys again. If Trump seems to think waving the magic wand of legal do-overs comes with zero costs to him, maybe Biden is rightly betting that he enjoys similar leeway. After all, Trump’s first term included freebies for former Illinois Gov. [Rod Blagojevich](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49377676), former NYPD Commissioner [Bernie Kerik](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/nyregion/bernard-kerik-pardon.html), and “[junk-bond king](https://www.npr.org/2020/02/19/807488161/a-look-at-the-newly-pardoned-michael-milken-a-junk-bond-king-turned-philanthropi)” [Michael Milken](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/business/michael-milken-trump-pardon.html). He also employed his leniency power to spare five [staffers](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/20/trumps-swampiest-pardons-ranked/) and advisers, three uniformed service members [accused](https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/15/trump-pardon-war-crimes-071244) of [war crimes](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/11/15/trump-issues-pardons-war-crimes-cases-despite-pentagon-opposition-move/), seven [disgraced](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/20/trumps-swampiest-pardons-ranked/) former members of Congress—all Republicans—and 10 health care providers [accused](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/us/politics/trump-pardons-medicare-fraud.html) in a massive Medicare fraud scheme. Given that recent history, imagine if Hunter Biden’s mid-December sentencing included years in prison—for transgressions that experts say are rarely prosecuted. What would the public reaction have been if Joe Biden, in the final days of his presidency, refused to use a get-out-of-jail-free card for his very own son? ## **Family is central to the Biden brand** Joe Biden spent his half-century in politics insisting that politics had no place in the judicial system, but that belief ran head-first into a competing precept that family stands above all other concerns. The President’s [grief](https://time.com/5878816/joe-biden-grief-kamala-harris/) over the death of his son Beau Biden has been the [overlay](https://time.com/5949712/joe-biden-america-grief-counselor/) of so much of the Biden family’s decision-making in the last decade, and surely factored into the President’s thinking as he weighed the prospect of even more his grandkids spending time without their own father. It was a politically fraught move, but not an unexpected one. After all, when an Iowan asked Biden about Hunter’s work in Ukraine back in December of 2019, the then-former VP [called](https://www.axios.com/2019/12/05/biden-ukraine-liar-hunter) the man “a damned liar” and challenged him to a push-up contest. Joe Biden followed-up with a [pledge](https://www.axios.com/2019/12/08/joe-biden-hunter-family-restrictions-impeachment) to keep his own house in order if elected. And not for nothing, Hunter Biden has been incredibly open about his [battles](https://time.com/5952773/hunter-biden-memoir-beautiful-things/) with addiction, and has seemingly [turned](https://time.com/6987519/hunter-biden-verdict-addiction/) around his life in the years after some admittedly poor choices. A lengthy jail term would do little to teach Hunter Biden any lessons he hasn’t already internalized. That argument appeared to help Joe Biden get to yes. ## **Joe Biden could do this without much of a check** The pardon power is absolute and the President’s alone. There’s no sign off needed from Congress and no one in his administration has any real authority to stop him. That’s why, when Biden said “I will not pardon him” on June 13, some were skeptical. A pardon was always an option, no matter how much his aides and [allies](https://www.kron4.com/hill-politics/democratic-senator-blasts-bidens-pardon-of-son/) [urged](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/opinion/biden-hunter-joe-trump.html) otherwise on All Things Hunt. How else to explain why Joe Biden [welcomed](https://nypost.com/2024/05/23/us-news/hunter-biden-merrick-garland-attend-state-dinner-days-before-first-son-faces-gun-trial/) Hunter Biden to a state dinner just days after the younger Biden cut a doomed deal with federal prosecutors, led by an Attorney General attending the same event? Despite Hunter Biden’s ghosts, he still has sway inside his father’s inner circle as the eldest living child of a once-imagined political [dynasty](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/22/the-untold-history-of-the-biden-family). ## **This is going to sting, but maybe just for a beat** The White House released the news late Sunday, just as Biden was about to hop on a flight heading out on his final foreign trip as President. That puts the President out of Washington until Thursday with no formal press conference on the books, a strategy that follows a South America trip last month that came with a similar media [brown-out](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-19/so-long-farewell-in-brazil-biden-fades-out-into-amazon-jungle?embedded-checkout=true). That leaves a whole lot of time to fill in a Washington subsumed by this apparent violation of Biden’s vow not to do what he just did. And, aboard the presidential flight on Air Force One, the White House’s top spokeswoman [doubled-down](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/02/white-house-biden-pardon-flip-flop-00192149) on the reversal. And on Monday, as she welcomed National Guard members to the White House to tour the holiday decorations, First Lady Jill Biden got pelted with a question about the pardon. "Of course I support the pardon of my son," Dr. Biden said in the White House’s State Dining Room. On top of that, Washington faces its seemingly auto-renewal gift of a holiday-themed spending deadline; this year, Congress has until Dec. 20 to kick the can down the road, and there’s a whole lot of [disagreement](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/12/02/congress/this-week-on-the-hill-00192126) just how far into Trump’s second term they should be looking toward. Put simply: the pardon is not going to stay front of mind for most Americans, and Trump is likely to find a way to hijack the public discourse as Team Joe runs down the clock. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ## Transcript [00:00] President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter, [00:03] following convictions on tax and gun charges. [00:07] This is an announcement that wipes the slate clean and [00:10] ensures that Hunter Biden will not be incarcerated as he prepares for sentencing. [00:14] What's really notable here is this is an action that the White House had [00:18] repeatedly said over the course of many weeks that the president did not intend to take. [00:22] However, in a statement that he has issued, [00:25] President Biden has said that in looking at the facts of the case, [00:28] he had concluded that Hunter Biden was singled out in [00:31] a miscarriage of justice and was prosecuted because he was the president's son. [00:36] And so he has determined that the cases were unfair and that [00:41] Hunter Biden deserve credit for having turned his life [00:43] around in the years since the conduct occurred. [00:46] And so it's really notable that he's taking this action [00:49] now to really help his son benefit [00:52] his son and undo two to separate [00:54] criminal cases that really shattered his son for the last several years. [00:58] In this case, the pardons came not only in the final weeks of President Biden's tenure, [01:03] but also in the days before Hunter Biden was to be sentenced. [01:07] You'll remember he was convicted in a gun case in Delaware [01:11] and pleaded guilty in a separate tax case in California. [01:15] He was set to learn his fate, [01:17] and prosecutors were set to, [01:20] you know, try to seek to have a sentence imposed on him. [01:24] And so this pardon really averts that punishment, [01:29] ensures that he won't be faced with an incarceration. [01:34] And so the pardon does seem designed to preempt that next step in the criminal process. [01:41] But it is also the case that it is not the first time that a president has [01:45] deployed his pardon power to benefit those around him. [01:49] You'll remember, of course, that in December 2020, [01:53] then President Donald Trump pardoned the father of his son in law. [01:56] So he pardoned Charles Kushner, whose son, Jared, [01:59] is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka Um, [02:02] and that raised attention. [02:04] He also part of multiple close allies who were [02:06] convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. [02:10] So there is a precedent for presidents taking part in power to benefit, [02:15] you know, family members, people close to them. [02:18] But there's no question that in doing this, [02:20] President Biden is probably setting himself up for questions in the days ahead. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7199383/biden-pardon-hunter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7199383/biden-pardon-hunter/"},"headline":"6 Reasons Why Joe Biden Pardoned Hunter Biden","datePublished":"2024-12-02T21:30:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:48:55.824Z","description":"What Trump might do in a second term loomed over Biden's decision","url":"https://time.com/7199383/biden-pardon-hunter/","keywords":["The D.C. 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