Democracy Dies in Darkness

President Biden faces criticism over controversial pardon of his son Hunter

Some Democrats fear that Trump will use the pardon to criticize the justice system and bolster his own efforts to remake it.

10 min
Hunter Biden speaks to reporters in December 2023 amid a House investigation of his business affairs. (Craig Hudson/For the Washington Post)
By
and 

President Joe Biden faced mounting criticism Monday for his decision to issue a sweeping pardon of his son, with a significant number of Democrats expressing concern that it would undercut faith in the justice system and provide ammunition to President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to remake it.

In the hours after Biden’s announcement, several Democrats said that while they understood his decision on a personal level to protect his son Hunter — who has lost a baby sister and an adult brother, suffered from addiction and faced relentless scrutiny because of his father’s position — they also worried about the broader signal the pardon may send that the politically connected have rights not available to all Americans.