White House blames Republicans for president's sudden pardon of Hunter Biden

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday defended President Joe Biden's late night pardon of his son Hunter Biden, which broke promises he has consistently made since his son landed in legal trouble.

The president unexpectedly pardoned Hunter Biden on Sunday night for all federal crimes committed or possibly committed between 2014 and 2024. The blanket pardon means the first son cannot be prosecuted or sentenced for his tax charges, his federal gun charge, or any possible crime he committed while on the board of Burisma. 

Joe Biden and the White House have consistently stated that the president would not pardon Hunter Biden because no one was above the law. 

Jean-Pierre on Monday said that the reversal comes because the president did not believe Republicans would stop prosecuting Hunter Biden after the president leaves office next month, per The Hill.

“One of the reasons the president did the pardon is because it didn’t seem like his political opponents would let go of it, it didn’t seem like they would move on. And so, this is why this president took this action,” Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One.

The press secretary also defended her repeated denials of the pardon being considered, stating that the president had only made the decision to pardon his son over the weekend.

“He thought about this this weekend, this is a decision that he made this weekend. He agonized over it,” she said. “What he watched his son go through, an unfair process, being singled out.”

Joe Biden argued in his pardon that his son was "selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted," and that politics had infected the judiciary process.

Hunter Biden was expected to be sentenced in the federal gun case on Dec. 12 and in the tax case on Dec. 16.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.