WASHINGTON — President Biden said Thursday that he would not pardon his son Hunter Biden if he’s convicted at a pair of federal criminal trials.
The 81-year-old president to ABC News anchor David Muir in an interview that he would accept the outcome of Hunter’s ongoing trial on gun charges in Delaware and that he would rule out using his unbridled clemency powers to set aside a conviction.
“Yes,” Biden responded to both prompts from Muir.
Biden’s spokespeople previously has said that he would rule out pardoning his 54-year-old son, who walked away from a probation-only plea deal last July over demands for broad immunity for past conduct, including alleged violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which could implicate his father.
Presidents typically reserve their most controversial pardons for their final days in office, meaning Biden still has time to change his mind.
Trump White House aides, for example, insisted that first son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father Charles would not be pardoned by the then-president, before he ultimately was among those on the list.
In addition to the Delaware gun case, Hunter Biden is scheduled to stand trial in Los Angeles beginning Sept. 5 for allegedly failing to pay more than $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 and 2019 on income received from foreign relationships in which he routinely involves his dad.
