The White House has revealed Representative Jim Clyburn was the key figure who convinced Joe Biden to pardon his son Hunter.
Hunter, 54, was convicted of three felony charges in June after he lied about a gun purchase from 2018 – claiming he was not using nor addicted to any drugs when it was proven that he had an active crack cocaine habit at the time.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday a visit from 84-year-old Clyburn was the deciding factor for the president to go back on his repeated promises.
‘This is Clyburn’s words: ‘The president was reticent’ when he tried to encourage him to pardon Hunter,’ Jean-Pierre said. ‘I think that’s important to note.’
Biden announced the decision after spending some intense family time on Nantucket over the Thanksgiving break with First Lady Jill Biden, Hunter and daughter Ashley.
His final decision came after he had long been wrestling with what to do about his son for crimes that he committed between 2014 and 2024.
‘You heard this president say this many times before, he believes when it comes to family, when it comes to how he moves forward, about thinking about his family, they’re the beginning, the middle and the end,’ Jean-Pierre said.
‘And he wrestled with this,’ she added. ‘It was not an easy thing for him to decide.’
Biden announced on Sunday that he was pardoning his son Hunter Biden – a decision that he was said to be wrestling with for quite some time
The White House revealed that Representative Jim Clyburn, of South Carolina, was the key figure who ultimately convinced President Biden to pardon his son Hunter
Clyburn – who has long been a voice in Biden’s ear – pushed for Hunter’s pardon during their talk two weeks ago, she also added.
Jean-Pierre was peppered with pardon-themed questions during Friday’s White House briefing, her first chance to field reporters’ questions in the briefing room since Biden announced Hunter’s pardon on Sunday.
She was given the opportunity to both apologize – and say that the president owed her an apology – for the president’s major flip-flip, which she excused by arguing that ‘circumstances have changed.’
Jean-Pierre didn’t apologize for the president’s change of heart and said in her case: ‘there’s no apology needed.’
‘Look, if you look at his statement, it’s pretty comprehensive. It’s in his own voice. I think it takes you through his thinking. And he did – he wrestled with this. He wrestled with this,’ Jean-Pierre said. ‘And again, he said, in his statement, in his own voice, that he made that decision this past weekend.’
‘And the fact is, when you think about how the president got to this decision, circumstances have changed. They have,’ she argued.
Hunter Biden , 54, was convicted of three felony charges in June after he lied about a gun purchase from 2018 – claiming he was not using nor addicted to any drugs when it was proven that he had an active crack cocaine habit at the time
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during the briefing on Friday: ‘You heard this president say this many times before, he believes when it comes to family, when it comes to how he moves forward, about thinking about his family, they’re the beginning, the middle and the end’
Jean-Pierre also pointed out that Hunter’s sentencing was coming up – scheduled for December 12 – so the president decided ‘that Hunter and his family had been through enough.’
During the briefing, Jean-Pierre spoke of Biden’s conversation with the representative several times – making sure to note that Clyburn, who is one of Biden’s top political allies, was a major turning point for the president’s decision to go back on his promise to the American people.
When Jean-Pierre was initially asked about an apology – if she was owed one – or did she owe one to the American people, she responded, ‘I just laid out the president’s thinking.’
‘And I know what I said. I know what the president said. That is where we were at the time. That is where the president was at the time,’ she argued. ‘I am his spokesperson.’
‘This weekend he thought about it, he wrestled with it, he wrestled with it and made this decision. That’s what I can tell the American people,’ she continued.
‘I think the American people understand and I think they understand how difficult this decision would be,’ Jean-Pierre added.
Clyburn has also pushed the administration to give out more pardons before Biden leaves office since Hunter’s pardon, he revealed on Friday.
Additionally, he asked White House officials to convince Biden to issue pre-emptive pardons to several current and former government officials out of fear that they could get tangled in the cross-hairs of Trump’s incoming administration, the New York Post reported.
‘I also told them that I thought he ought to go even further, because all the noise about Jack Smith and Liz Cheney and Doctor Fauci and all of that,’ Clyburn said.
He also signaled this week that he would even be in support of Biden pardoning Trump before he makes his way back to the Oval Office.
When asked about a Trump pardon, Clyburn said: ‘Yes, I could, absolutely. Because the Supreme Court has pretty much made it very clear that he is preemptively pardoned of anything he may do as president’.
