The president’s son was convicted on a relatively minor charge. Up until now, many thought he’d serve time.
But Hunter Biden just got a Get Out of Jail Free card straight out of left field.
Speculation is intensifying that President Biden will pardon his son, Hunter Biden, who was recently found guilty in a federal gun trial, despite the president and his staffers claiming he will not give his son a pass amid his legal troubles.
“I’ve been very clear; the president is not going to pardon his son,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated in December. Last month, Biden himself told ABC News that he ruled out pardoning his son and affirmed he would accept the jury’s verdict in the case.
The administration reiterated to Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the president’s stance on Hunter Biden’s pardon remains unchanged.
However, the credibility of these assurances is questionable after weeks of denying that Biden was considering quitting the 2024 campaign, only for Biden to bow out of the race on Sunday afternoon via a social media post.
“The president spoke to this in his ABC interview. His comments stand,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates told Fox Digital on Tuesday when asked about any plans to pardon Hunter Biden.
Republicans have been vocal in their belief that the president will eventually pardon his son, with Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz asserting the odds of Biden pardoning Hunter are 100%.
“I’m going to place the odds that Joe Biden pardons Hunter Biden at 100%. Hunter Biden will get a pardon as a result of this decision,” Cruz said during his podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” on Monday, referring to Biden’s decision this week to drop out of the presidential race.
“It will not happen till after Election Day. He’s not going to do it before Election Day. But he’s going to stick around. And after Election Day, I believe it is now 100% that Joe Biden will pardon Hunter,” he added.
Hunter Biden was convicted by a federal jury on June 11 of lying about his drug use when purchasing a firearm in 2018.
He was found guilty on three charges: making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
Prosecutors argued that Hunter Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018, when he ticked the “No” box when asked if he is an unlawful user of or addicted to controlled substances.
Hunter Biden’s long history of drug abuse was highlighted in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which was frequently referenced by both prosecutors and his defense team during the nearly seven-day trial.
The memoir details Biden’s struggles with addiction to crack cocaine and his attempts to get sober.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys did not deny his long history with substance abuse during the trial, instead arguing that on the day he bought the Cobra Colt .38, he did not consider himself an active drug addict.
Hunter Biden has yet to be sentenced in the case.
President Biden bowed out of the presidential election on Sunday afternoon in a letter posted to X. The White House and campaign had consistently denied Biden would withdraw from the race, asserting he was committed to winning his rematch against former President Trump.
Biden, self-isolating in Delaware after a COVID-19 diagnosis, announced he would no longer seek a second term. He returned to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday after testing negative for the virus.
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