Outgoing Biden pardons his son

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on Sunday night, reversing his earlier stance of not using executive power to pardon or reduce his son's sentence.

"From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department's decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted ... It is clear that Hunter was treated differently," Biden said in a statement.

The president said his political opponents in Congress "instigated" the charges "to attack me and oppose my election."

"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," he said.

Hunter Biden was convicted in June for purchasing a firearm in 2018 while addicted to crack cocaine, marking the first time a sitting president's child has been convicted of a crime. He is set to be sentenced on Dec. 12.

He is also scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 16 for federal tax evasion charges, to which he pleaded guilty in September, involving over 1.4 million U.S. dollars in unpaid taxes

Special counsel David Weiss, who served as the attorney for Delaware under former U.S. President Donald Trump, launched an investigation into Hunter Biden in 2018 and brought both indictments in 2023.