White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday defended President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter despite telling the press multiple times that the president had no such plans.
“He said he came to this decision this weekend, and he said he wrestled with this and, because he believes in the justice system, but he also believes that the raw politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Angola.
She added: “Hunter was singled out, and because his last name was Biden, because he was the president’s son. That’s what we saw. And so the president believed enough is enough, and the president took action, and he also believes that they tried to break his son in order to break him.”
Hunter Biden, the president’s only surviving son, was found guilty in June on federal gun charges and pleaded guilty in a separate tax evasion case in September.
Jean-Pierre was asked by reporters in September if the guilty plea changed Biden’s mind to not pardon his son.
“It’s no — it’s still no,” she said.
During a White House press briefing on Nov. 7, Jean-Pierre again dismissed a question about whether Biden had planned to pardon his son.
“We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no,” she said.
Questions about whether Biden would pardon his son have swirled since last year. Before the jury reached its verdict in June, Biden said that he would accept its decision and not use his presidential pardon power if Hunter were to be convicted. A few days later, the president also told the press that he wouldn’t commute his son’s sentence in the gun case either.
Those assertions from Biden came before he exited the 2024 presidential race.
The president on Sunday issued a “full and unconditional pardon” for any offenses Hunter Biden has “committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024,” according to the White House statement.
In a statement explaining his decision, Biden said, “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.”
Asked Monday about the pardon, first lady Jill Biden said, “Of course I support the pardon of my son.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
