He was the head of the Israeli army between 2002 and 2005, just before Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza
world1 day ago
US President Joe Biden said on Sunday he had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, a reversal after pledging to stay out of legal proceedings against the younger Biden who pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges.
"Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. 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," the president said in a statement.
The White House had said repeatedly that Biden would not pardon or commute sentences for Hunter, a recovering drug addict who became a target of Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump.
"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," Biden said in a statement released shortly before leaving for a trip to Africa.
The grant of clemency said Biden had granted "a full and unconditional" pardon to Hunter Biden for any offenses in a window from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.
Hunter Biden faced sentencing for the false statements and gun convictions this month. In September he pleaded guilty to federal charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury items. He was scheduled for sentencing in that case on Dec. 16.
"I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport," Hunter Biden said in a statement on Sunday, adding he had remained sober for more than five years.
"In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages ... I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering."
Republicans criticized the president's move.
"Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!" Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site, referring to those convicted for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after Trump claimed falsely that he had won the 2020 election.
"Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family's corrupt influence peddling activities," said Representative James Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
The president, whose son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, said his opponents had sought to break Hunter with selective prosecution.
He said people were almost never brought to trial for felony charges for how they filled out a gun form, and said others who were late in paying taxes because of addiction but paid them back with interest and penalties, as his son had, typically received non-criminal resolutions to their cases.
"It is clear that Hunter was treated differently. 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," Biden said. "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 August 2023, lawyers for Hunter Biden said prosecutors had reneged on a plea deal that would have resolved the tax and firearms charges. The president said in his statement on Sunday that the plea deal "would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter's cases."
Biden said he had made his decision to pardon over the weekend. The president, his wife, Jill Biden, and their family including Hunter, spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and returned to Washington on Saturday night.
"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," Biden said.
"I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision."
He was the head of the Israeli army between 2002 and 2005, just before Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza
world1 day ago
Sunghay expresses concern about the levels of hunger, even in areas where aid agencies have teams on the ground
world1 day ago
Two children killed in missile attack on encampment in Khan Younis, say medics
world1 day ago
The 2004 attack targeted a rally by Hasina's Awami League party, which was in opposition at the time, and the blast occurred just as Hasina was finishing her speech
world1 day ago
Several companies came under fire after the October 29 catastrophe for ordering employees to keep working despite a red alert issued by the national weather agency
world3 days ago
The first attempt to change the law in a decade has caused a national debate in the country
world3 days ago
A woman and a child were killed in tank shelling that hit western areas of Nuseirat, according to medics
world4 days ago
The country has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022
world4 days ago