White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday that President Joe Biden made the decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden — after repeatedly vowing not to — in part because he believed his "political opponents" would continue to prosecute him once the presidential transition was complete.
"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," Jean-Pierre said. "And so, this is why this president took this action."
Jean-Pierre's comments were the first time the White House addressed the decision, which was announced late Sunday night before Joe Biden jetted off for a trip to Angola.
She was also asked whether the president now believes that the Justice Department is politicized, which is an argument that President-elect Donald Trump has frequently made while fighting multiple legal battles.
"He believes in the Department of Justice, but he also believes that his son was singled out politically, and so he made this decision," Jean-Pierre said. "The president wrestled with this decision; he made this decision this weekend, and he decided to move forward with pardoning his son."
The president believes that his political opponents "tried to break his son in order to break him," Jean-Pierre said.
The Hill reported that the president and Hunter Biden were both in Nantucket, Massachusetts, over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with other family members and were spotted having lunch together at a local restaurant.
When pressed on whether the president's reversal undermines his administration's credibility, Jean-Pierre urged reporters to read the president's statement, in which he refers to his son's prosecution as "a miscarriage of justice" that was "infected" with "raw politics."
Joe Biden also said he hopes "Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision."
In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, Trump said he would not rule out pardoning Hunter Biden if he won, as he believed the first son was also politically targeted.
"I wouldn't take it off the books," Trump said in October. "See, unlike Joe Biden, despite what they've done to me, where they've gone after me so viciously … and Hunter's a bad boy, there's no question about it, but I happen to think it's very bad for our country."
The younger Biden was found guilty of three felony charges in a federal case in June stemming from his purchase and possession of a handgun in 2018. In a separate case in September, he avoided a trial by pleading guilty to nine federal tax charges.
According to The Hill, sentencing in his federal gun case is set for Dec. 12 and in his tax case for Dec. 16.
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