Politico calls for Biden to issue commutation of Hunter Biden sentence in act of presidential 'mercy'

Politico argued on Monday that President Joe Biden should swiftly issue a commutation for his son Hunter Biden because Republicans “pressured” the Department of Justice to prosecute the younger Biden and that doing so would be an important act of "mercy."

Ankush Khardori, a senior writer at the outlet, made the argument for Biden to commute his son’s sentence, saying that it would be “an important show of mercy" as Biden is leaving office. 

“Thanks to President Joe Biden’s Justice Department, Donald Trump is headed to the White House, and his son Hunter might be headed to prison. And believe it or not, the drama will intensify shortly,” Khardori wrote.

“In a matter of weeks, the younger Biden is set to be sentenced in two different criminal courts. On Dec. 12, he will appear in federal court in Delaware, where he was convicted over the summer of buying a gun in 2018 while addicted to drugs. Several days later, he is set to appear before a federal judge in Los Angeles for sentencing on tax fraud charges, which he pleaded guilty to in September just as a trial was about to get underway.”

The Politico writer noted that people are still wondering if “Biden will pardon his son,” adding, “The question raises a host of considerations — legal, political, practical and historic — that cannot be easily disentangled or reconciled. But, in the end, should he do it?”

Khardori argued that Biden is “on strong ground — at a minimum — to commute any sentence of imprisonment for his son Hunter before he leaves office. Not a pardon exactly, but an important show of mercy.” He added that this would spare Hunter “potentially years behind bars and avoid further pain for the Biden family.”

On Sept. 5, 2024, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, speaking for Biden, said the president would neither pardon Hunter nor commute his sentence. She was asked if Hunter changing his plea to guilty would affect how the president felt about the case.

The press secretary responded, “no comment” to that query but said, “It’s no, it’s still no,” when asked if Biden would issue a pardon for his son.

“Can you comment on whether a commutation would be on or off the table?” another reporter asked. “That's also no,” Jean-Pierre said, adding that she didn’t “have anything to say” about whether Hunter’s ongoing judicial battle had anything to do with his father’s decision not to run for a second term as president. Hunter Biden had pleaded guilty in a Los Angeles court that day to nine tax evasion charges, three of which were felonies.

While Politico acknowledged that Biden previously said no to a pardon or a commutation, the outlet suggested Biden “may have good reason to change his mind — not least of all, because he was effectively ousted as the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee and now must watch as Trump, who lies more prolifically and [has] corrupted the pardon process more egregiously than any president in modern American history, will return to the White House.”

Khardori wrote that “the cases against Hunter Biden probably would not have been brought against anyone else” but insists he is not trying “to excuse any of Hunter Biden’s conduct.” He argued that “[t]he reason we are here is because Trump and his Republican allies effectively — and successfully — pressured Joe Biden’s own Justice Department to prosecute his son.”