President Biden emphatically defended his son at a summit of world leaders in Italy, commenting directly for the first time since Hunter Biden was convicted this week on federal gun charges, while also reiterating that he would not use his presidential powers to soften whatever penalty his son faces.
“I’m extremely proud of my son, Hunter,” Biden said during a brief news conference at the Group of Seven meeting, as two of Hunter’s daughters, Maisy and Finnegan, watched from several feet away in the audience. “He has overcome an addiction. He’s one of the brightest, most decent men I know.”
The president reiterated that he would not pardon his son, saying he trusted the deliberations of a jury that found Hunter Biden guilty of lying on a gun-purchase form in 2018 when he checked a box saying he was not using illegal drugs.
As Biden was walking away from the stage, he was also asked whether he would commute his son’s sentence – that is, reduce its severity. “No,” Biden responded.
Hunter Biden is not likely to be sentenced for several weeks, as the prosecution and defense prepare reports for the judge on what they consider to be an appropriate penalty. While his conviction carries a potential prison sentence, some legal analysts have said that may be less likely given that Hunter is a first-time offender who owned the gun for only 11 days and never used it.
Still, the issue of a chief executive’s pardon authority has taken on an unusually prominent role in the 2024 presidential campaign, largely because presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has been convicted of falsifying business records to hide an alleged affair. Trump also faces three more criminal trials, which may not begin until after the Nov. 5 election, while Hunter Biden faces a tax-evasion trial in September.
Biden answered the questions about his son as he addressed reporters alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the two leaders announced a new security pact between their countries.
The moment underlined Biden’s efforts to balance political and personal demands at this week’s summit, as he juggles pressures that have far-reaching global consequences with those that pertain to his tightknit family.
In the hours before he left for the trip – and on the day Hunter Biden was convicted – the president made a quick trip to Wilmington, Del., where he was greeted on the tarmac by his son, along with Hunter’s wife, Melissa, and their son, Beau.
Biden’s priority at the summit was to get a deal done on Ukraine funding while trying to assure allies of American leadership. But the president was also trying to keep his family together, and he brought along three of his granddaughters, children of Hunter Biden.
That included Naomi Biden, the president’s 30-year-old granddaughter who just days ago was tearful after her testimony in a witness box in a Wilmington courtroom and this week joined the president at a majestic setting near the Adriatic Sea.
During the news conference, the president’s granddaughters, along with Naomi’s husband, Peter Neal, looked on.
(c) Washington Post
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