Washington DC reacts to President Biden pardoning son Hunter in shock decision
Reactions started coming through shortly after the announcement on Sunday evening that President Joe Biden had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, for his tax evasion and federal gun charges.
A reversal for the president, the pardon came about two weeks before his son was scheduled for sentencing in both cases: on Dec. 12 on the gun-related charges in Delaware, and on Dec. 16 on the tax charges in California.
Hunter Biden first released a statement directly after the pardon was issued, saying in part, "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.”
Shortly afterward, his sister, Ashley Biden, posted to her stories on Instagram: “Thank you, Dad! What they have tried to do to my brother is cruel + politically motivated. Period. Proud Sister + Daughter!”
However, there was a less receptive response from Washington, D.C.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, Republican of Kentucky, said President Biden "lied from start to finish" about the circumstances surrounding his son's case.
In a statement on Sunday, he said, "Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities. Not only has he falsely claimed that he never met with his son’s foreign business associates and that his son did nothing wrong, but he also lied when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden."
"The charges Hunter faced were just the tip of the iceberg in the blatant corruption that President Biden and the Biden Crime Family have lied about to the American people," he added. "It’s unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability."
And Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan posted on X: “Democrats said there was nothing to our impeachment inquiry. If that’s the case, why did Joe Biden just issue Hunter Biden a pardon for the very things we were inquiring about?”
President-elect Donald Trump addressed the pardon by bringing up those who had been arrested for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 -- whom he referred to as "J-6 Hostages."
"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!" he posted to Truth Social.
Steven Cheung, the spokesperson for President-elect Donald Trump, also responded indirectly, providing a statement to ABC News that said the circumstances go to show that the Department of Justice had weaponized the justice system -- before adding that Trump intends to fix that during his second term in the White House.
“The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system," the statement said.
"That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people," it continued.
House Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona said in a post on X that he disagrees with President Biden's decision to pardon Hunter Biden, making him the first House Democrat to publicly disagree with the president on the decision.
He wrote, "I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong."
"This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers," Stanton added.
Spokespersons for both Special Counsel David Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland did not have an immediate response to the pardon of Hunter Biden when reached by ABC News on Sunday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
