Who is Hunter Biden and what are the charges against him?

Hunter Biden is Joe Biden’s 54-year-old middle child. He is also his only surviving son and the first child of a sitting US president to face criminal trial.

In a 2021 memoir, Hunter admitted to crack cocaine use and alcoholism, although he said he received treatment and recovered from his addictions.

Hunter faced the possibility of years in federal prison due to multiple charges related to gun possession and tax fraud.

In June, he was convicted by a jury for illegally purchasing and possessing a gun while being a drug user. Hunter had the .38 calibre Colt Cobra Special for approximately 11 days and never fired it, according to his lawyers.

For the tax case, he faced up to 17 years in prison, and the gun charges were punishable by up to 25 years. Still, Hunter was expected to receive a shorter sentence, and it was possible he could have avoided prison time entirely.

Hunter Biden was supposed to be sentenced on December 12 on the gun-related charges in Delaware and on December 16 on the tax charges in California.

But didn’t Joe Biden say he wouldn’t pardon Hunter?

Indeed.

In June, Biden ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son. “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him,” Biden said as his son was facing trial in the Delaware gun case.

Separately, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at least seven times – over more than a year – that Biden would not pardon his son.

As Biden faced off against former President Donald Trump in this year’s presidential election, he tried to draw a distinction with the realtor-turned-politician – who has been charged in multiple cases.

“No one is above the law,” he wrote on X in early July, in seeming protest against the US Supreme Court verdict granting broad immunity to Trump for any legal violations he committed while president.