Hunter Biden brokered 'sweeping' pardon deal during Thanksgiving trip with dad: report

It was reported on Monday that Hunter Biden, who was facing sentencing on felony charges for both tax evasion and federal gun charges, brokered the deal for his presidential pardon with his presidential dad during their family vacation over Thanksgiving in Nantucket. The annual Thanksgiving trip came just weeks ahead of the first sentencing date for the younger Biden, December 12, on gun charges. A date for his tax crimes was set for December 16. This was Hunter's last chance to convince his dad to give the pardon, which the White House has claimed repeatedly would never come.

"We’re told the family discussed the issue over the long Thanksgiving weekend in Nantucket," Politico said Monday morning, "where the Bidens spent the holiday. Word reached senior White House staff on Saturday night that the pardon could be coming. Yesterday, Biden made the decision final and work began on the legal fineries and the statement announcing it."

The pardon, however, covers not just gun and tax crimes but goes back to 2014. It reads: "January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024" and shields Hunter "from further federal prosecution for any conduct through a nearly 11-year period that ended at midnight — not only the crimes for which he has been charged," Politico notes. This pardon, they say further, is "one of the most sweeping pardons ever granted." In the early years covered by the pardon, Hunter was on the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma, earning $80,000 per month. Rumors and allegations have surfaced that he and his father were engaged in influence peddling in Ukraine at this time. Biden had been tasked with Ukraine relations when he served as Obama's vice president.

NBC claimed, however, that Biden has been considering the pardon since June. It was also in June that Biden's prospects for a second term in the White House dimmed considerably after his terrible debate performance against Donald Trump. That debate spurred high-ranking Democrats to begin the process of removing Biden from the ticket. Even Hollywood A-lister George Clooney got into the act, penning an op-ed, reportedly with former President Barack Obama's approval, stating that Biden should drop out of the race.

Just before the statement on the pardon was released by Biden, it was reported that Hunter's lawyers were urging the elder statesman to pardon his son. In September, Hunter pleaded guilty to tax crimes and it was widely believed that he did so for two reasons, one to save the family further embarrassment and second to make sure that the case and conviction were over in enough time to allow his dad to give him a presidential pardon.