For more than a year, President Joe Biden, along with his White House communications team, has denied that he would pardon his son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted on federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to tax evasion.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre first said the president would not pardon his son on July 27, 2023 — the day after his plea deal in the tax case collapsed. Since then, there have been at least 11 occasions that the Biden administration has stood by the statement that Joe Biden would not pardon Hunter Biden.
But on Sunday, the president issued a “full and unconditional pardon” for his son regarding any offenses he “committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.”
The pardon comes just weeks before Hunter Biden’s two sentencing hearings, one on Dec. 12 and the other on Dec. 16. Between all 12 counts, he faced a maximum of 42 years in prison. However, maximum sentences typically are not handed out for tax charges.
A jury convicted the younger Biden in June of lying about being a drug user to a gun dealer to obtain a weapon. He also pleaded guilty to three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses for failing to pay his taxes for four years and falsifying business reductions to “reduce the very substantial tax liability he faced as of February 2020.”
Biden began talking with aides in June about the possibility of pardoning his son, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. It was decided that they would keep the discussions public.
Since June, Jean-Pierre and deputy White House spokesman Andrew Bates have denied the president was considering pardoning Hunter Biden on eight occasions.
Here is a rundown of every time a Biden administration official said the younger Biden would not be pardoned.
Just weeks after Hunter Biden reached a plea deal with the Justice Department, it fell apart over a dispute about whether the language of the deal granted him immunity in future charges. Jean-Pierre held a press briefing on June 27, and she was asked if there was a chance the president would pardon his son.
She responded “No.”
“So, I’ve answered this question before,” Jean-Pierre said. “It was asked of me not too long ago, a couple of weeks ago. And I was very clear, and I said no.”
“Nothing has changed,” Jean-Pierre said. “That is still the case.”
The president sat down with ABC News anchor David Muir during his son’s gun trial and while he was still running for president. Muir had directly asked Joe Biden if he ruled out pardoning his son, to which he responded, “Yes.”
On June 11, Hunter Biden was convicted of three felony counts for lying about being a drug addict when he applied to purchase a firearm. In response, his father wrote a statement saying he would “accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.”
The following day, a reporter asked Jean-Pierre if the elder Biden would still consider commuting his son’s sentence.
“I have not spoken to the president about this,” Jean-Pierre said. “And what I’m saying is he was asked about a pardon. He was asked about — he was asked about the trial specifically. And he answered it very clearly, very forthright. As we know, the sentencing hasn’t even been scheduled yet. I don’t have anything beyond what the president said. He’s been very clear about this.”
During a press conference in Fasano, Italy, Joe Biden once again said he would not pardon his son.
“With regard to the question regarding the family, I’m extremely proud of my son Hunter,” the president said. “He has overcome an addiction. He is — he’s one of the brightest, most decent men I know. And I am satisfied that — I’m not going to do anything. I said I’d abide by the jury decision, and I will do that. And I will not pardon him.”
Even after Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, he was saying he had no intention of pardoning his son. A reporter asked Jean-Pierre if he would instruct Vice President Kamala Harris not to pardon Hunter Biden.
“I mean, that’s a hypothetical that I — look, the president — I can speak for the president, and he said he would not pardon his son,” Jean-Pierre said. “And I’m just going to leave it there.”
Jean-Pierre had told a reporter that it was still a “no” on the president pardoning his son.
After Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidential election, a reporter once again asked the press secretary if Joe Biden planned to pardon Hunter Biden.
“We’ve been asked that question multiple times,” Jean-Pierre said. “Our answer stands, which is no.”
Just a week ago, Bates repeated to a reporter that Joe Biden’s position on not granting his son clemency remains the same.
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“Is he still committed to no clemency for his son Hunter?” the reporter asked.
“The president has spoken to this,” Bates responded.
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