Biden pardons son Hunter in final weeks of US presidency

US President Joe Biden on Sunday issued an official pardon for his son Hunter, who was facing sentencing for two criminal cases, despite assurances that he would not intervene in his legal troubles. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” the president said in a statement. The move is sure to bring about fresh scrutiny over the independence of the US judicial system — especially at a time when incoming president Donald Trump has moved to appoint loyalists to the FBI and Justice Department himself. The younger Biden was convicted earlier this year of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun — a felony — and has also pleaded guilty in a separate tax evasion trial, but had not faced sentencing. Joe Biden, who is in the final weeks of his presidency before Trump takes office on January 20, had repeatedly said he wouldn’t pardon his son.