The special counsel who prosecuted Hunter Biden has accused US President Joe Biden of damaging public trust in the justice system with his remarks regarding the investigation into his son.
Hunter Biden, 54, was found guilty of gun and tax offenses in cases initiated by special counsel David Weiss but received a pardon from his father in December.
In his final report on the case, Mr. Weiss pointed out that the president, while announcing the pardon, criticized the prosecution of his son, labeling it as “selective,” “unfair,” “tainted” by “raw politics,” and a “miscarriage of justice.”
“This statement is unwarranted and incorrect,” Mr. Weiss stated, adding: “Other presidents have pardoned family members, yet none have used such occasions to disparage the public servants at the Department of Justice based solely on unfounded allegations.”
“Questioning those rulings and introducing partisanship into the independent enforcement of the law undermines the very essence of what ensures fairness and equity in America’s justice system,” he continued.
“It diminishes public trust in an institution critical to maintaining the rule of law.”
Mr. Biden granted his son a pardon before his sentencing in the two criminal cases.
Joe Biden pardoned his son in December
“No reasonable person reviewing the facts of Hunter’s cases can arrive at any other conclusion than that Hunter was targeted solely because he is my son – and that is unjust,” the president remarked at that time.
The release of Mr. Weiss’s report coincided with the forthcoming release of another special counsel’s report – that of Jack Smith, who has initiated two criminal cases against former and potential future president Donald Trump.
Mr. Smith accused the US president-elect of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Biden, and mishandling classified documents after his White House tenure.
Neither case proceeded to trial, and Mr. Smith, adhering to a Justice Department guideline of not prosecuting a sitting president, dismissed the charges following Mr. Trump’s victory in the November presidential election.
Hunter Biden was convicted last year for falsely stating his drug use when purchasing a firearm – a felony – and he pleaded guilty in a different tax evasion case.
His father had consistently claimed he would not pardon Hunter but ultimately decided to do so after he “observed my son being selectively and unfairly prosecuted.”
US presidents have historically utilized pardons to aid family members and political allies.
Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother for past cocaine charges, and Mr. Trump pardoned the father of his son-in-law for tax evasion, although in both instances, those individuals had already completed their prison sentences.
Mr. Trump has promised to pardon supporters who rioted at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
