I am an unabashed admirer of President Joe Biden. He has done a remarkably good job for the American people. But I am deeply disappointed by Sunday night’s pardon of his son Hunter.
I respect and admire the president’s devotion to his son and feel great sympathy for the Shakespearian dilemma he faced ahead of Hunter’s sentencing. This is a president who has made devotion to duty and restoring the “soul of the nation” his signature. Thus, pardoning Hunter can be viewed as the understandable act of a loving father, especially one worried about a Justice Department that may very soon be turned into a tool of vengeance.
But I still think it was the wrong decision.
Biden’s choice gives credence to President-elect Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that justice under his predecessor was tainted by favoritism.
Biden’s choice gives credence to President-elect Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that justice under his predecessor was tainted by favoritism toward his friends and animus toward his political opponents.
Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, was quick to drive home that point. “The failed witch hunts against President Trump,” he said in a statement, “have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system. That system of justice must be fixed… which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people.”
Trump followed suit on Truth Social: “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!”
This false equivalence should be seen for what it is: an effort to tee up Trump’s own plan to grant clemency to the people who tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Nothing Hunter was accused of doing compares to that.
And I also believe there is credence to the president’s claim — echoed by legal analysts like Joyce Vance — that Hunter was singled out because of his family. Indeed, it looked for a time that Hunter Biden would escape serious punishment, as others in his situation typically do.
That plea deal fell apart, however, and Hunter was ultimately convicted on three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 and for the lie he told “on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.”
That trial featured, what the AP called, “deeply personal testimony from former romantic partners and embarrassing evidence such as text messages and photos of Hunter Biden with drug paraphernalia or partially clothed.” Still, the president stood by his son.
A few hours after the verdict in the Delaware case, the president hugged his son at an airport near Wilmington. It was a courageous and admirable thing for a father to do.
At the time, Biden made clear that he was torn between his role as president and as Hunter’s father. “I am the President, but I am also a Dad,” Biden said. But it seemed he had resolved that tension by leaning into his presidential duties and putting the interests of the nation first. Even before the verdict, the president had volunteered that “he would not pardon his son Hunter.”
When ABC’s David Muir asked him if he “would rule out a pardon for Hunter,” Biden said “yes.” One week later, he reiterated that “I will not pardon him,” and Jill Biden also said that her husband would not pardon their son.
From June, President Biden says he will not pardon his son, Hunter. https://t.co/rSzuL1zRPz
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 2, 2024
Then, in September, Hunter appeared in a federal court in Los Angeles to face charges of three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses. He pled guilty.
Hunter was due to be sentenced in Delaware on Dec. 12. He could have faced up to 25 years in prison, “though as a first-time offender he likely would not have gotten anything like that or even been sentenced to prison.” Three days later he was to return to Los Angeles where faced a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison. Meanwhile, the White House continued to insist that the president would not pardon him. Fox News notes that between July and November, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on six different occasions that Biden would not pardon his son. All the while, as NBC News reports, Biden had “discussed pardoning his son with some of his closest aides at least since Hunter Biden’s conviction in June.” Those reports indicate that “it was decided at the time that he would publicly say he would not pardon his son, even though doing so remained on the table.” This is hardly a reassuring note for the president’s supporters. Last night’s pre-emptive act of mercy covers any offenses Hunter Biden has “committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024.” Notably, the pardon only applies to federal charges; it does not preclude Trump’s allies at the state level from bringing charges. Still, this decision feels unprecedented. While other presidents have pardoned relatives and close friends, this is the first time any commander in chief has granted clemency to their child. In his statement about the pardon, the president expressed his hope that Americans “will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.” I do understand why Joe Biden, who so prizes his “word as a Biden,” would do what he did. But understanding it does not make it right. In the end, this is a gift to Donald Trump, and a blow to whatever confidence Americans continue to have in our political and legal institutions. It risks feeding what I fear is a growing cynicism about politics and their doubt that any politician can be trusted. Democrats still have not recovered from Trump’s election, and this makes them look like hypocrites as they criticize Trump’s demand for unfailing loyalty from his subordinates. Loyalty, it turns out, matters to Biden too.
Austin Sarat
Austin Sarat is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College. The views expressed here do not represent Amherst College. 
