US President Joe Biden assured Thursday that he would not pardon his son Hunter, found guilty in the United States of illegal possession of a firearm, against a backdrop of crack addiction.
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“No,” Mr. Biden responded to a reporter’s question during a press conference at the G7 summit in Italy. “I will not pardon him,” he added, specifying that he would not commute the sentence to which his son will be sentenced either.
“I am extremely proud of my son Hunter. He overcame addiction, he is one of the brightest and most honest men I know,” Biden said. “I said I would respect the jury’s decision. I will,” he added.
The Democrat, who will face his predecessor and Republican rival Donald Trump on November 5, had already pledged not to pardon his son in the event of guilt, ensuring “to respect the legal procedure”.
Hunter Biden
AFP
This is the first criminal conviction against a child of a sitting US president.
Found guilty by a jury of lies and illegal possession of a revolver in 2018, Hunter Biden, 54, theoretically faces up to 25 years in prison, but an alternative sentence could also be decided.
This former lawyer and businessman, now a painter, was on trial for lying about his drug use when purchasing a Colt Cobra in a gun store on October 12, 2018.
The day before his trip to Italy, Biden, 81, changed his schedule to travel to Wilmington, Delaware, his hometown where the trial was held.
Hunter Biden, who was waiting on the tarmac when the presidential helicopter Marine One landed, was warmly hugged by his father.
The verdict came as Biden finds himself in a tough re-election battle against Donald Trump, himself recently becoming the first former president to be convicted by a New York jury of violating election law by lying about secret payments to a porn star.
