WASHINGTON – White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ruled out any possibility that President Joe Biden will pardon his son Hunter Biden, who is facing tax and gun charges.
Asked by a reporter at Thursday’s briefing if there was any chance of a pardon, Ms Jean-Pierre flatly said “no”.
“I just said no. I just answered,” Ms Jean-Pierre added, when pressed by the reporter.
A plea agreement between the younger Biden and prosecutors over tax charges and a firearm violation is in limbo after a federal court judge refused to sign off on the terms of the deal during a hearing on Wednesday. The judge raised questions about whether the agreement with prosecutors precluded future charges on other matters.
Biden admitted his guilt at the start of the nearly four-hour hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, but ended up entering a plea of not guilty after the agreement was derailed.
Under the original deal, Biden had intended to plead guilty to two misdemeanour tax crimes committed in 2017 and 2018 and enter an agreement with prosecutors to avoid prison on a charge of possessing a gun while addicted to an illegal drug.
Biden’s plea agreement has become a lightning rod for Republicans, who allege that he received favourable treatment because of political influence and that the Justice Department failed to fully investigate the business dealings of the Biden family, including the President.
The plea deal was struck with Mr David Weiss, the US Attorney for Delaware, who was appointed under former president Donald Trump.
House Republicans have launched investigations into the business dealings of Biden family members, seeking to promote unverified claims that the President and his son engaged in corruption.
They have also sought to contrast the treatment of the younger Biden with that of Trump, who is facing federal charges over his handling of classified documents and a New York state case over alleged hush money payments.
Trump’s lawyers are bracing for yet another potential indictment – this time in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
On Thursday, the former president sent out a fund-raising e-mail to supporters, invoking Biden’s plea agreement and trying to draw contrasts to his legal cases. BLOOMBERG
