Jill Biden is defending the decision to grant Hunter Biden a sweeping pardon, arguing that circumstances changed after President Donald Trump’s election and left the family convinced that their son would be singled out for prosecution.
Speaking with CBS News’ “Sunday Morning” ahead of the publication of her new memoir, View from the East Wing, the former first lady contended that Hunter Biden did not receive fair treatment from federal authorities.
“The Justice Department changed, and the process was not fair to Hunter,” Jill Biden told CBS News “Sunday Morning” ahead of the release of her memoir, “View from the East Wing.”
She maintained that the political climate shifted dramatically after Trump returned to office and said the family feared Hunter would become a target.
“When Trump was elected, things changed,” she went on, “and we knew that he would target Hunter. And we just could not let our son go to jail on a charge that no one would go — I mean, no one has ever gone to jail for.”
When asked whether she personally encouraged her husband to issue the pardon, Jill Biden stopped short of saying she pressured him but made clear that she backed the decision.
“Oh gosh, I truly supported it. I wanted him to pardon Hunter at that point, and I agreed with Joe.”
Hunter Biden, now 56, was found guilty in June 2024 on three federal firearm-related charges stemming from statements he made about his drug use when purchasing a gun in 2018. Several months later, in September, he admitted guilt in a separate federal tax case in Los Angeles involving $1.4 million in unpaid taxes.
Both prosecutions were pursued during Joe Biden’s presidency by special counsel David Weiss, who was appointed by the Justice Department. The cases moved forward after Hunter Biden initially agreed to a plea arrangement in June 2023 that would have avoided prison time. That agreement later collapsed when his legal team sought broader immunity protections, including protection from potential Foreign Agents Registration Act violations that critics argued could have drawn scrutiny toward Joe Biden.
At roughly the same time, IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler accused Justice Department officials of shielding Hunter Biden from aggressive investigation. Among their allegations were claims that prosecutors warned Hunter’s attorneys about a planned search and restricted efforts to examine Joe Biden’s connection to his son’s overseas business dealings.
Jill Biden’s assertion that individuals do not typically receive prison sentences in cases similar to Hunter Biden’s firearm conviction has been challenged by critics who point to other examples. One of the most notable is rapper Kodak Black, who received a 46-month federal prison sentence in 2019 after admitting that he provided false information, including an incorrect Social Security number, when purchasing firearms.
For years, White House officials publicly stated that Joe Biden would not use his pardon power on behalf of his son. Nevertheless, on Dec. 1, 2024, the president issued an expansive pardon covering Hunter Biden for any offenses committed between Jan. 1, 2014, and the date the pardon was signed, including conduct that had never resulted in criminal charges.
In the final moments of his presidency on Jan. 20, 2025, Biden also granted preemptive pardons to several members of his family, including his brothers James and Frank Biden, his sister Valerie Biden Owens, and their spouses.
Jill Biden said Sunday that her husband issued those pardons “I suppose for the same reason, that he felt that they would be targeted.”
James Biden had long drawn scrutiny over business ventures that critics said capitalized on his family connections dating back to Joe Biden’s decades in the U.S. Senate. House Republicans uncovered records showing that James Biden transferred $240,000 to Joe Biden in 2017 and 2018 using funds they linked to alleged influence-peddling activities. James Biden has maintained that the payments were simply repayments of personal loans.
Republican lawmakers also accused James Biden of providing false testimony to Congress and urged prosecutors to pursue criminal charges. In addition, they raised questions about whether some of his business activities amounted to unregistered lobbying work on behalf of foreign interests.
{Matzav.com}
Just remember, Jill was never issued a pardon…
Jill is an actor like Biden. All fake.