Image source, Reuters

Let's now take a look at Hunter Biden's statement:

"I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport.

"Despite all of this, I have maintained my sobriety for more than five years because of my deep faith and the unwavering love and support of my family and friends.

"In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages. In recovery we can be given the opportunity to make amends where possible and rebuild our lives if we never take for granted the mercy that we have been afforded.

"I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering."

Image source, Getty Images

Hunter Biden was only two years old in December 1972 when - less than six weeks after his father's election to the US Senate - a truck rammed into the family car, killing his mother and younger sister Naomi.

His father is teetotal, but Hunter started drinking as a teenager and has acknowledged abusing cocaine as a college student. He has been in and out of rehab.

In 2013, he signed up for the US Navy Reserve and was sworn in before his father - then the vice-president - in a White House ceremony.

But on his very first day at the naval base, he tested positive for cocaine use and was discharged.

According to the New Yorker, he drank excessively after the death of his older brother, Beau, from brain cancer in 2015, sometimes only leaving the house to buy vodka.

During an acrimonious divorce from his first wife Kathleen Buhle, she accused Hunter of "spending extravagantly on his own interests (including drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, strip clubs, and gifts for women with whom he had sexual relations) while leaving the family with no funds to pay legitimate bills".

• You can read more about the struggles and scandals of the US president's son here

Hunter Biden is not the first person his father has pardoned since taking office.

President Joe Biden has so far granted clemency to 25 other individuals, according to the BBC's US partner CBS. Most of them had been charged with drug offences.

By contrast, Donald Trump had issued 29 pardons at this point during his first term but ultimately left the White House having issued a total of 143.

Rowan Bridge
North America correspondent, Washington DC

Image source, Reuters

President Biden's pardon of his son, Hunter, has really divided opinion.

Eric Holder, the former Obama era attorney general, the most senior law enforcement figure in the administration, has backed Joe Biden’s move – effectively saying that Hunter Biden was unfairly targeted because of the Biden name.

But you’ve also got the Democratic governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, who’s come out and said that while he understood the desire of President Biden to help his son, it sets a "bad precedent" that could be abused by later presidents.

He said it would "sadly tarnish his reputation" - because, of course, Joe Biden leaves office on 20 January.

For Joe Biden, it doesn’t matter for him, there’s no electoral consequences for him, he’s leaving office and the Democrats aren’t going to face any more elections for the next two years.

In the eyes of the public, the risk is that this further undermines public confidence in politicians as this is seen, quite publicly, as Joe Biden going back on his word having said that he wouldn’t pardon his son – he has now done so.

But Joe Biden has clearly weighed up the probe he might get from the public versus his feelings about the prosecution and being a father.

Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining us this morning, here's a reminder of President-elect Donald Trump's reaction to President Biden's pardon.

Sharing his response on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!"

Trump was referring to his supporters who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in a bid to overturn Trump's defeat in the 2020 election.

Biden echoes some of Trump's complaints about justice systempublished at 06:49 Greenwich Mean Time 2 December 2024

06:49 GMT 2 December 2024

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Joe Biden’s explanation for pardoning his son is that Hunter Biden has been unfairly targeted by the president’s own political enemies in an attempt to politically damage him.

That might sound familiar to anyone who has listened to Donald Trump rail against America’s system of justice in recent years.

Trump, as he exited the White House in 2021, issued a series of pardons for his close associates and allies who had been swept up in the multiple criminal investigations that encircled him throughout his presidential term. Although he was criticised for his actions at the time, there were little if any political consequences.

Biden may be criticised as well – for breaking his promise and for using his presidential power to protect his son. With his political career drawing to a close, however, there is likely to be little price the outgoing president will pay for his actions.

The national attention will quickly shift back to the incoming Trump presidency.

The rules governing presidential pardoning – or at the very least the processes and established guardrails that had guided its use – appear to have been fundamentally and permanently altered.

And at this point there may be scarce grounds for anyone to complain, no matter on which side of the political aisle they stand.

Here's more from my analysis.

Let's bring you President Biden's pardon in full:

"Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.

"Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form.

"Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.

"The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.

"Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.

"No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution.

"In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.

"For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further.

"I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision."

It's just gone 06:00 in London, so if you're just joining us this morning, here's a catch-up on what happened overnight:

• Late on Sunday evening local time, US President Joe Biden issued a presidential pardon for his son, Hunter
• The younger Biden was facing the prospect of years in prison over charges relating to gun possession and tax fraud
• Joe Biden had previously ruled out pardoning his son, but in a statement said Hunter had been "selectively and unfairly persecuted"
• Reacting to the news, Hunter Biden put out a statement that said he had "admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction" and that he wouldn't take clemency for granted
• It's common for presidents to issue a raft of pardons in the closing months of their presidency, however Republicans have reacted particularly negatively to this one, branding Biden "a liar" and "corrupt". President-elect Donald Trump has called the pardon an "abuse and miscarriage of justice"
• The BBC's North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher writes that with Biden’s political career drawing to a close, however, there is little price he will pay for his action

Mike Wendling
US digital reporter

Image source, Reuters

Don’t take Donald Trump’s criticism of Joe Biden’s pardon as a blanket condemnation of all favours for family members.

Just a day ago, Trump said he intends to nominate Charles Kushner as ambassador to France.

Kushner is the father of Jared Kushner, a former White House senior adviser who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka.

Charles Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison in 2005, on charges of tax evasion, illegal campaign donations and witness tampering.

During the case, it was revealed he had hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, then had a tape of their encounter sent to his sister.

Charles Kushner had his record expunged in 2020 when Donald Trump issued him a pardon - though he had long since done his time in prison. The same is not true of Hunter Biden, who was yet to face a sentencing hearing.

It is common for outgoing presidents to issue pardons before they leave the White House.

Donald Trump issued more than 100 pardons when he was president, most of which came in the last few months of his term in office.

A presidential pardon wipes out convictions for federal crimes.

It represents legal forgiveness, ends any further punishment and restores rights such as being able to vote or run for public office.

Mike Wendling
US digital reporter

In criticising Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter, Donald Trump made what might seem like an unusual comparison.

The president-elect asked whether the pardon would extend to those who stormed the Capitol on 6 January 2021 - the people Trump calls the “J-6 Hostages”.

For his Maga supporters, this won’t seem like a logical leap at all.

Trump is returning to a grievance that he repeatedly aired on the campaign trail - that he and his supporters have been unfairly treated by Joe Biden and his administration.

Back in the early days of this years campaign he wrote: “Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!”

Trump has promised to issue pardons of his own for those who rioted in Washington, who believed that their candidate was robbed in the 2020 election.

Many of the rioters expect they will soon be free, with some filing legal challenges based on Trump’s statements.

But who exactly will be granted clemency, and whether pardons will extend to those convicted of the most serious and violent offenses, is still an open question.

We have been seeing more reactions from both Republican and Democratic senators.

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn criticised Biden's move, saying "there are two tiers of justice in Biden’s America", while Missouri Congressman Eric Burlison, also a Republican, said the pardon is "a brazen display of nepotism".

"This pardon will echo through history as a clear signal that under this administration, the scales of justice are tipped in favour of those with power, connections, and the last name Biden," he added.

On the other side of the aisle, Arizona Congressman and Democrat Greg Staunton disagreed with Biden's claim his son's prosecution was "politically motivated", saying he had been "convicted by a jury of his peers".

"I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong," he wrote on X.

Hunter Biden faced the prospect of years in federal prison over a raft of charges relating to gun possession and tax fraud.

The president's son was convicted in June of the illegal possession of a firearm, as well as lying about his drug use when buying it.

Prosecutors said he lied on the firearm application form by claiming he was not using drugs. Hunter's attorneys argued he did not consider himself an addict and had been clean at that time.

Hunter had the gun - a .38-caliber Colt Cobra Special - for about 11 days, and never fired it in that time, according to his lawyers.

That conviction carried a maximum sentence of 25 years, although Hunter was expected to face a shorter sentence of up to 16 months.

Then, in September, the president's son pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges for falsifying records and failing to file returns. He faced up to 17 years in prison, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for 16 December.

Hunter is the first child of a sitting US leader to be convicted of a federal crime.

Image source, Reuters

President Joe Biden ignored questions shouted at him by the press on why he changed his mind about pardoning his son Hunter as he boarded Air Force One on Sunday night.

The president is departing on what is likely to be his last overseas trip while in office, flying to Angola for a long-promised visit to Africa.

Biden faces a packed agenda after touching down, on a trip that the White House has said will focus on strengthening regional security, growing economic opportunities, and improving technological and scientific relations.

The president had earlier on Saturday spent his final Thanksgiving holiday as president in the New England town of Nantucket, as is his family tradition.

Image source, Reuters

Hunter Biden is the only surviving son of President Joe Biden, and is the first child of a sitting US president to face a criminal trial.

The 54-year-old has faced personal struggles in recent years, from alcohol and drug abuse to relationship strife.

Biden has admitted that he began drinking as a teenager and acknowledged abusing cocaine as a college student. Since then, he’s been in and out of rehab.

A graduate of Georgetown University and Yale Law School, Hunter joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, a Catholic group serving marginalised communities. There, he met fellow lawyer Kathleen Buhle, and the two married in 1993. They have three children together.

Biden has admitted that infidelity was the final straw in their marriage, which led to a divorce in 2017. A DNA test later showed Biden was the biological father of a child born to an exotic dancer in Arkansas.

Biden also has a fifth child, four-year-old Beau, with his current wife, Melissa Cohen Biden. Read more here.

Former US federal prosecutor, Sarah Krissoff, says she isn't surprised that Biden has pardoned his son, despite his assurances that he wouldn't.

"President Biden had said over and over again he wasn't going to do this, but I had surmised a few months ago that this was likely going to happen," she tells the BBC.

"He put his family first. I'm not surprised by that despite the statements he made publicly that he wasn't going to do this," she says.

Krissoff added there was "a lot of truth" to Biden's claim that Hunter would not have been prosecuted if he wasn't his son, saying: "These types of crimes really aren't usually charged. It's very unusual to charge someone for that gun offence. And similarly with the tax crimes... [these] types of cases are usually resolved with some sort of civil settlement with the IRS."

Alex Lederman
BBC News, Washington

The Bidens are a famously tight-knit family. During Hunter’s trial, we saw First Lady Jill Biden in the courtroom, as well as his sister Ashley and other relatives. All were emotional, as intimate details from the darkest days of Hunter’s addiction were rehashed.

President Biden did not himself make an appearance at the courthouse, but he gave his son a long hug on the tarmac when he landed in Delaware later that day.

The trial is reported to have taken a serious toll on President Biden, who blamed himself for bringing scrutiny onto his son and feared he might relapse.

The Bidens have frequently argued that this was an unfair political prosecution, but the president said many times that he wouldn’t pardon his son.

With his days in office now limited, and an opponent coming to power who has promised to appoint a special counsel to investigate the “Biden crime family,” President Biden has proven that his word in this case was based on a different future - one in which Donald Trump was not elected.

To catch a livestream of the BBC News channel, click the play button on the top of this page.

The eldest son of president-elect Donald Trump said Biden's pardon was an expected move.

"Everyone knew he was going to do it. He was just going to do it when it was if no consequence to democrat electability," Donald Trump Jr said in a post on X that was later reposted by Elon Musk.

Image source, EPA

In issuing the "full and unconditional pardon" for his son, Joe Biden said Hunter was "selectively and unfairly prosecuted".

"No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son - and that is wrong.

"There has been an effort to break Hunter - who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me - and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough," Joe Biden said, in a statement from the White House, external.

The pardon covers any potential federal crimes Hunter Biden may have committed from January 2014 through December 2024. This period covers Hunter Biden's tenure as a board member of Burisama, a Ukrainian company that has been accused of bribery.