A week before handing down the sentence, the judge who was following the weapons possession case against Hunter Biden dismissed it after the last-minute pardon from his father, US President Joe Biden. Prosecutors were opposed to the total annulment of the process.
A federal judge dismissed the gun case against Hunter Biden on Tuesday after President Joe Biden issued a general pardon for your son.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika closed the case a week before Hunter Biden was sentenced. He could have faced up to 25 years in prison, although as a first-time offender he likely would have received a much shorter sentence or avoided prison altogether.
Prosecutors opposed dismissing the case, arguing in court papers that a pardon should not eliminate the case “as if it never happened.” Hunter Biden was convicted of three felonies after lying on a federal form to purchase a gun in Delaware by saying he did not use drugs in 2018, during which time he has acknowledged being an addict.
The Justice Department's special counsel also opposes dismissing a case filed in California after Hunter Biden failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes. A federal judge in Los Angeles has not issued a ruling in that case.
Hunter Biden was originally scheduled to reach a plea deal with prosecutors last year that would have spared him prison time, but the deal fell apart after Noreika questioned unusual aspects of it.
President Biden's decision on Sunday to go back on earlier promises and issue his son a blanket federal pardon for actions over the past 11 years has sparked a political uproar in Washington, drawing criticism from many Democrats as well as Republicans and threatening to cast a shadow over the Biden's legacy as he prepares to leave office on January 20. On Tuesday, the president dodged questions about his decision, ignoring requests to explain his reversal while making his first presidential trip to Angola.
Dismissing loud questions with a laugh during a meeting with Angolan President João Lourenço at the presidential palace, Biden told the Angolan delegation “welcome to the United States.” Biden was not planning to take questions from the press during his trip to Africa, his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters on Monday, and has largely avoided any interaction with reporters since President-elect Donald's victory. Trump last month.
The reversal drew criticism from many Democrats, who are working to calibrate their approach to Trump as he prepares to take office in the Oval Office in seven weeks, as they fear that the pardon — and Biden's claims that his son was prosecuted for political reasons—erode his ability to roll back the incoming president's legal maneuvers.
In June, Biden told reporters as his son faced trial in a Delaware gun case: “I abide by the jury's decision. “I will do it and I will not pardon him.”
A month later, Jean-Pierre told reporters: “It's still a no. It will be a no. It's a no. And I have nothing more to add.” Will you pardon your son? No.”
In November, days after Trump's victory, Jean-Pierre reiterated that message: “Our answer is the same, which is, no.”