Hunter Biden was in an increasingly dangerous position.
After Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris, it was clear that some of Trump’s most vocal critics were ready to seize power and carry out promises of retribution against Trump’s enemies.
Mr. Hunter also was scheduled to be sentenced to months or even years in prison after pleading guilty to tax crimes for illegally purchasing a handgun.
There were growing concerns within his circle and within the broader Biden family that Hunter’s status as a political and legal target would become even more serious. A white paper written by his lawyers and distributed over the Thanksgiving long weekend outlined the risks and significant threats he faced.
But by Sunday night, the clouds had cleared.
Hunter was freed from these crimes in a surprising pardon that his father, President Biden, repeatedly said he would “never forgive.” With one stroke of a pen, the president granted his son broad immunity for 11 years from all federal crimes.
This pardon came at a heavy cost to his father, who was harshly criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike.
For Hunter, the pardon is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for a reset after climbing from the ashes of crack cocaine and alcohol addiction.
“He was happy. He was grateful,” said Mark Geragos, one of Hunter’s attorneys. He did not provide further details.
Bobby Sager, a friend of Hunter and his second wife, Melissa, saw the couple last week and spoke with Hunter in recent days. Sager told the Times that the pardon brought him a sense of relief.
“It’s been a long and difficult road,” said Sager, who attended Hunter Biden’s criminal trial in Wilmington, Delaware, and dined with his family the night after the court session. “They’ve been under constant intense scrutiny for about six years. Today is the first day they wake up in the morning and don’t have to think about that as part of their first thoughts.”
Hunter: “I want to find a way to be useful.”
Hunter’s next move is unknown.
In a statement released Sunday, the 54-year-old pledged to “dedicate the life I have rebuilt to helping those still suffering from the disease.” The president’s son did not respond to several messages seeking comment.
The property was at the center of his federal tax case and fueled his years-long drug addiction, which he earned from his foreign business dealings, legal work and consulting. He was also a director of Ukrainian gas company Burisma, a position in which he was paid between $500,000 and $1 million a year.
These days, his income comes from paintings, the sale of his 2021 memoir Beautiful Things, and a multimillion-dollar loan from his friend, attorney, and confidant, Los Angeles lawyer Kevin Morris.
In recent years, Hunter has lived in a series of rental homes in Los Angeles and Malibu while publicly declaring his sobriety from crack cocaine and alcohol. Paparazzi have photographed him hiking with his wife, shopping at the Grove and, just two weeks ago, taking his young son Beau to Disneyland.
Sager said Hunter could continue writing, try his hand at podcasting or other speaking engagements, continue his artistic ambitions or pursue other avenues.
“He wants to find a way to help others who are healing from addiction and life in general,” Sager said, adding that “this country” also needs “healing.” “He is in many ways uniquely qualified to be a constructive voice in that conversation.”
Hunter has been tracked for years by the Morris-backed project’s documentary team.
The filmmakers capture intimate moments in Hunter’s life, including painting in his Malibu home, confronting criticism of his efforts to sell his art, and defying a congressional subpoena in Washington. Photographed. In June, the filmmakers watched much of Hunter’s criminal trial in Delaware, where he was found guilty of firing a gun outside the courtroom during jury deliberations and of illegally purchasing a handgun. handed down the verdict.
The current status of the documentary project is unknown.
In recent years, Hunter has written in his book that he has not only focused on getting sober, but also “paying off his debts, both figuratively and literally.” He has sought guidance from Morris and others in the recovery community.
“We make sure that connectivity is available in our daily lives so that it is fully available in moments of crisis,” Hunter wrote in his memoir.
The legal trial and intense public scrutiny took a toll on the family. His attorney, Mr. Geragos, noted that the specter of a tax trial on the heels of the Delaware case with a “parade of witnesses who are nothing more than character assassins” was particularly difficult. That was one of the reasons Hunter pleaded guilty.
“I don’t think Hunter wanted his family to go through that again,” Geragos said. “People don’t realize how intrusive, abusive and challenging it is for someone who has been sober for five years.”
“The threat to hunters is real.”
Biden has previously said he had no intention of pardoning his son and would respect the judicial process in Hunter’s criminal case, including the jury’s verdict. His press secretary reiterated that promise just last month.
But Biden and his aides said he had second thoughts about spending the Thanksgiving holiday on Nantucket with Hunter and his grandchildren.
It was pressure from the court calendar. With just days left before a judge will sentence Hunter, his lawyers are compiling letters from loved ones to present to the court in an effort to plead for mercy and prove his character.
To this, his lawyer added another tactic.
On Saturday, the defense team publicly distributed a 52-page “white paper” in which President-elect Trump and his allies have turned Hunter into a “political tool” and warned that his prosecution could occur in 2020, 2022 or 2024. He argued how he was trying to influence the election. The document chronicles a series of events from 2017 in which President Trump or his allies used Hunter “to attack and injure his father.” He pointed out how efforts to impeach President Biden, focusing on Hunter, relied on Russian disinformation.
“The threats against Mr. Hunter are real now that the election has been decided,” said a white paper released by Mr. Hunter’s lawyer, Abby Lowell, of Winston & Strawn. “It’s clear that Mr. Trump and his fellow Republicans want further prosecutions of Mr. Hunter and his family.”
Within hours of the document’s release, Biden informed aides that he planned to pardon his son. The president’s public statements Sunday echoed the themes of political damage and pain laid out by his son’s lawyers.
“As I have wrestled with this issue, I believe that raw politics has infected this process and that it has led to a miscarriage of justice,” Biden said in a statement. “They tried to break Hunter, and they tried to break me too—and there’s no reason to believe it’ll stop here. Enough is enough.”
Critics pounce on Biden’s reasoning and lack of pardon
The move drew scorn from both sides of the aisle. Republicans painted President Biden as a liar for backtracking on his public vow to refrain from pardoning Hunter.
Among Democrats, the pardon was criticized as a political gift to the incoming administration.
John Lovett, a former Obama speechwriter turned podcast host, questioned why Biden’s argument didn’t mention Trump, instead highlighting his son’s drinking.
“There are many people who have had the wheels of justice turn while desperately trying to maintain their sobriety, and there will be no mercy for them,” Lovett said on Pod Save America. Co-host Jon Favreau once again pardoned Biden, saying his “ego has gotten in the way too many times.”
Rachel Bercow, a law professor at New York University who specializes in criminal law and constitutional law and has served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, found that the thousands of unsigned clemency petitions were another problem.
“Biden has done nothing about these things,” Bercow told the Times. “This is a tale of two cities. You can’t do this for your own son and ignore others. Other people’s children matter too.”
Mr Bercow said his legacy was tainted by not making full use of his pardon powers while in office and not extending them to his son.
“If he regularly used this to grant ordinary people relief from injustice, it wouldn’t be as noticeable. But his pardon rate is so low that it It stands out like a sore thumb.”
what’s next
Considering the pardon and its implications, Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday asked two leading Republicans whether the pardon would end the criminal prosecution of Hunter Biden and his family.
“Is it over? Is this the end for Joe Biden?” Hannity pressed.
“I think the new Trump Justice Department has a lot of work to do,” said Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, adding that other Biden family members, including President Biden’s younger brother James, have also indicated that they will remain at the Justice Department. suggested. In the crosshairs of his committee and the incoming administration.
Both Mr. Comer and Congressman Jim Jordan expected Mr. James to be pardoned before the end of his presidential term.
For hunters, the path is clear. He will remain out of prison until the twilight years of his father’s life and the birth of his first grandchild next year. Daughter Naomi announced her pregnancy last month.
“I’m not afraid of the future anymore. … This story already has a happy ending,” Hunter writes near the end of his memoir, describing how a crack addiction led him from a suite at the Chateau Marmont to a skid. He was taken to a corner of Lowe and detailed how he was looking for the next solution.
Ms. Sager is happy that Hunter will continue to be a presence in her children’s lives, and that even her critics will see Hunter’s admitted debauchery as a blip in an honest life. He said he hopes for
“He’s a smart guy, a graduate of Yale Law School, a very caring, talented guy,” Sager said of Hunter. “He’s an artist and he wants to do his art and he wants to be someone who truly contributes to the welfare of society.”
His art dealer, Georges Berges, suggested in a statement on Instagram on Monday that the pardon would bring the saga to an end. He noted that his gallery has endured “political assault and other attacks,” along with congressional subpoenas.
“This has always been purely about art. I have always believed that only someone with a history like his could have produced art like his. With concentration and friendship, his work I knew from experience that it could be important,” Berges said. “What I said then is still the same today.”
“Hunter Biden’s story is America’s story,” Burgess concluded, alluding to Hunter’s journey from lawyer to lobbyist to full-blown crack addict to right-wing whipping boy.
“The story is that the past doesn’t have to determine the future. Tomorrow is a new day,” he said.
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