Biden issues 39 pardons, commutes 1,500 sentences in ‘largest single-day grant of clemency’

On Thursday morning, the White House announced, "President Biden announced that he is granting clemency to nearly 1,500 Americans – the most ever in a single day – who have shown successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer."

"The President is commuting the sentences of close to 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities. He is also pardoning 39 individuals who were convicted of non-violent crimes. These actions represent the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history," a press release from the White House added.

The Biden administration also suggested that more action will be taken to pardon and commute others in the last weeks of his term. This comes as Democrats have been angered by his reported "selfish" behavior in last weeks he has in office. Biden has apparently put the priorities of other Democrats in the party on the back burner as he is working on his legacy and aiding in the transition of power from himself to Trump.

Despite the rather large number of commutations and pardons, the most controversial likely remains the pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, who Biden issued a blanket pardon for from the beginning of 2014 up until December 1, 2024. The timing of which some have said is suspect because Hunter began his top position at Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, in 2014.

The pardon from Biden did not just clear Hunter of the crimes he committed, but also those he "may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024,” Joe Biden wrote in his statement on the matter.

Biden argued that Hunter was "singled out only because he is [the president's] son" and that the investigations into the younger Biden were made in order to "break Hunter" and "break" President Biden.