Hunter Biden gets a presidential pardon from his father

US President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter Biden in what has proved to be one of the most controversial decisions of his administration.

NBC News, who first reported on the presidential pardon, pointed out this is a reversal to Biden's previous statements, where he claimed he would not use his authority to pardon his son.

“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 — and that is wrong,” Biden said in a statement announcing the pardon, as quoted by The New York Times.

“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”, President Biden remarked.

The move has criticized by many political commentators including, CNN points out, Democratic politicians and White House staff that were out of the loop from this decision.

The New York Times even wrote that, by pardoning his son, President Biden was echoing some complaints against Trump and his use of executive powers for personal benefits.

Let's remember that back in June, Hunter Biden was found guilty of three charges, regarding his substance use when purchasing a gun.

Hunter Biden was found guilty of making two false statements when filling out a form to buy a Colt revolver in October 2018: first by stating untruthfully that he was not addicted to or using drugs, and then by declaring the statement to be true.

A third charge alleged that he then illegally owned the gun for 11 days, before his sister-in-law and then lover, Hallie Biden, threw it in a trash bin in a panic.

Joe Biden, in a statement at the time, acknowledged that “I will accept the result of the case”, remembering that “I am the president but I am also a father”, indicating he would stand by his son, whatever the sentence.

Then in September, the younger Biden also pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion, filing fraudulent tax returns, and failing to pay taxes.

In total, Joe Biden's son would have been facing 17 years in prison and over 1.7 million US dollars in fines.

The New York Times points out that Hunter Biden's pardon make it difficult for the Democrats to defend the integrity of the Justice Department. Particularly with the growing concern that it will be used as a political weapon by any future administration.