President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter Biden in his illegal gun possession and tax delinquency cases.

On Sunday, December 1, the 82-year-old president announced in a statement that he would pardon Hunter, 54, writing: “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with it, I also believe that raw politics has infected. “This process resulted in a miscarriage of justice – and having made that decision this weekend, there was no point in delaying it any further.”

“From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere in the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I have kept my word, even as I watched my son be selectively and unfairly prosecuted was,” Biden continued.

“Without aggravating factors such as use in a crime, multiple purchases, or purchasing a gun as a straw purchaser, people are almost never tried for a crime simply because they filled out a gun form,” the president wrote. “Those who paid their taxes late because of serious addiction, but then repaid them with interest and penalties, generally receive non-criminal solutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.”

The pardon is expected to relate to Hunter’s federal firearms case and his nine tax charges. In his gun case, a Delaware jury found him guilty on three counts of unlawfully acquiring and possessing a gun while addicted to drugs in July 2018. In September, Hunter offered to plead guilty to tax charges alleging he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes and instead spent the money on “an extravagant lifestyle” including expensive hotels and cars, drugs and more.

“The prosecution in his cases came only after several of my political opponents in Congress incited them to attack me and oppose my election,” the president wrote on Sunday. “Then there was a carefully negotiated plea deal in the courtroom that the Justice Department agreed to — and a number of my political opponents in Congress took credit for putting political pressure on the trial.”

“Had the settlement occurred, it would have been a fair and reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases,” Biden continued.

Hunter told the Associated Press via email Sunday that he would not take the pardon lightly and now hopes to dedicate his life “to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”

“I acknowledged and took responsibility for my mistakes in the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that were exploited to publicly humiliate and shame myself and my family for political fun,” Hunter said.

After his June conviction in the gun trial, Hunter became the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of crimes. The weapons possession charge carries a prison sentence of up to 25 years and a $750,000 fine, and the tax penalty carries a prison sentence of up to 17 years. Hunter was scheduled to be sentenced in the gun case later this year.

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“No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s cases could come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was singled out simply because he is my son – and that is wrong,” Biden continued in his statement on Sunday. “An attempt was made to break Hunter – who has been sober for five and a half years, even in the face of relentless attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they tried to break me – and there’s no reason for it. “I think it will stop here. Enough is enough.

It marks a significant about-face for Biden, who previously said he would not use his presidential power to pardon his son and repeatedly assured members of the press that he would respect the outcome of any case.

“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president come to this decision,” Biden concluded his statement.