US President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who was facing conviction on two criminal charges related to tax evasion and the purchase of a firearm.

Here’s what we know about the case and the pardon:

Who is Hunter Biden and what allegations are being made against him?

Hunter Biden is Joe Biden’s 54-year-old middle child. He is also his only surviving son and the first child of a sitting US president to face criminal charges.

In his 2021 memoir, Hunter admitted to using crack cocaine and having alcoholism, although he said he had undergone treatment and recovered from his addiction.

Hunter faced years in federal prison on multiple charges related to gun possession and tax fraud.

In June, a jury convicted him of illegally purchasing and possessing a weapon as a drug user. According to his attorneys, Hunter owned the .38-caliber Colt Cobra Special for about 11 days and never fired it.

Months later, in September, he pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to avoid taxes on at least $1.4 million.

He faced up to 17 years in prison for the tax case, and up to 25 years for the weapons possession charge. Still, Hunter was expected to receive a shorter sentence, and it was possible he could have avoided prison time entirely.

Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced on December 12th on the gun charges in Delaware and on December 16th on the tax charges in California.

But didn’t Joe Biden say he wouldn’t pardon Hunter?

Indeed.

In June, Biden ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son. “I abide by the jury’s decision. I will do that and not pardon him,” Biden said as his son stood trial in the Delaware gun case.

Separately, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at least seven times — over more than a year — that Biden would not pardon his son.

As Biden ran against former President Donald Trump in this year’s presidential election, he sought to draw a distinction from the real estate agent and politician who has been indicted in multiple cases.

“No one is above the law,” he wrote in early July

Nobody is above the law.

– Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 31, 2024

So how did Biden justify the change in his stance?

In a statement from the White House on Sunday, Biden announced his decision to grant executive clemency to his son Hunter Biden.

Biden explained that this decision was made in response to what he said was a politically motivated attack by his opponents to tarnish his reputation.

“The prosecution in his cases came only after several of my political opponents in Congress incited them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said in the statement.

“No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s cases could come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was chosen solely because he is my son – and that is wrong.”

Biden also emphasized, “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with it, I also believe that raw politics has infected that process and led to a miscarriage of justice.”…I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president will come to this decision.”

Statement from President Biden

“Today I signed a pardon for my son Hunter…”

Full statement: https://t.co/InKuzm3vMF pic.twitter.com/vhxIjr1xIe

– CSPAN (@cspan) December 2, 2024

How did Hunter react?

Hunter said in a statement he would never take the reprieve “for granted.”

“I have acknowledged and taken responsibility for my mistakes in the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that were exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” he said in a statement.

“I will never take for granted the grace given to me today and will dedicate the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”

What does a pardon do?

The U.S. Constitution states that a president has the power to grant clemency, which includes pardons, amnesty, commutations and reprieves.

A pardon relieves individuals of federal crimes and restores all civil liberties and rights, while a commutation lessens sentences without completely repealing them. An amnesty is the same as a pardon, but extended to a group of individuals.

This power dates back to English law, under which the king could grant mercy to anyone, and later reached the American colonies across the Atlantic. US presidents often use this power.

How often do presidents pardon family members?

It is not uncommon for U.S. presidents to use this power to pardon or commute a family member’s sentence.

In his final weeks in office in 2021, Donald Trump issued about 100 pardons and commutations. Among the people he pardoned was Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

In 2005, Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison for tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions and witness tampering. In 2024, Charles Kushner has just been nominated by Trump to be US Ambassador to France in the new administration.

Former President Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother Roger before the end of his second term. In 1985, Roger Clinton Jr. was convicted on cocaine charges and sentenced to more than a year in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs.

Does that matter?

Analysts say this pardon could undermine the credibility of the U.S. democratic system — and the idea that the law is actually the same for everyone.

“Now that an election is over and Joe Biden is out of races, I think we are now dealing with a father who is steadfastly looking out for his son,” Eric Ham, a US political analyst, told AlJazeera.

“I think this will be a lingering question that a lot of people will be focused on, and I suspect more eyes will now be on the pardons that Joe Biden is granting as he walks out the door.” But I think so “also that it raises a much bigger question about where the US now stands as a constitutional state,” he added.

Experts also believe that this also puts the USA in a challenging position in its global role.

“It will be very difficult for the U.S. … as it tries to pressure other nations, including China, Russia and North Korea,” Ham said.

“I think it blurs the lines and I think it makes it difficult for the US to make those arguments. “If you look at the successive moves by Biden and Donald Trump in favor of pardoning the January 6 insurrectionists, I think the argument for the US becomes more difficult as the nation moves forward,” he explained.

“The law only seems to work for certain people or not,” Ham added.

Is this similar to what Trump has said or done before?

Both Biden and Trump have claimed that the Justice Department has been influenced by politics.

Biden argued that the case was used to attack him and oppose his election. Trump has also argued that the justice system has been weaponized against him and that he is a victim of law enforcement.

After Biden announced Hunter’s pardon, Trump called the move an abuse of justice.

“Does the pardon granted by Joe Hunter extend to the J-6 hostages who have been imprisoned for years?” Trump said in a social media post. He was referring to the rioters who were accused of attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“Such an abuse and miscarriage of justice!” he added.

Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol after he gave a fiery speech in which he urged the crowd to “fight like hell” to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Biden had.

How did others react?

Iowa Republican Sen. Charles E. Grassley said on social media that he was “shocked” that the president pardoned his son because “he said many times he wouldn’t and I believed him.” “Shame on me.”

I’m shocked that President Biden pardoned his son Hunter because he said many times he wouldn’t and I believed him. Shame on me

— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) December 2, 2024

Separately, Arizona Democratic Representative Greg Stanton wrote on Hunter committed crimes and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”

I respect President Biden, but I think he made a mistake here.

This was not a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed crimes and was convicted by a jury of his peers. https://t.co/P31d4ILL1P

– Rep. Greg Stanton (@RepGregStanton) December 2, 2024

“Joe Biden is a liar and a hypocrite to the end,” said Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

However, others applauded Biden’s decision and argued that Hunter was treated unfairly. Former US Attorney General Eric Holder posted on X that the pardon was “justified.”