President Joe Biden’s son Hunter is facing the grim prospect on being sentenced to prison twice in the space of just three days next month.
The 54-year-old is first due in court on December 13 in Delaware, where he could be jailed for up to 25 years after being convicted in June of three firearms offences and admitting to “illegally owning a gun while a drug user”.
Three days later he will be facing up to 17 years behind bars and more than £1million in fines in California, where he pleaded guilty in September to nine charges of falsifying financial records and failing to file tax returns. Legal experts say Hunter, is more likely to serve only a year or so in each case based on sentencing guidelines and the fact he is a first time offender.
His father has stated he will not use his powers of clemency to either pardon his sole surviving son or commute whatever sentences he receives.
Asked directly last year if he would pardon Hunter, President Biden simply replied: “No.”
Asked if he had changed his mind, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declared last month: “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands – which is no.”
But President-elect Donald Trump could show mercy to Hunter. In a recent radio interview, he said: “I wouldn’t take it off the books. There’s no question about it – he’s been a very bad boy.”
Jim Kessler, of Democratic think-tank Third Way, believes Mr Trump could well “pull off another great plot twist” by pardoning Hunter.
But he added: “He wouldn’t be doing it to demonstrate he’s a better man than we thought… but to give himself licence to commit outlandish abuses in our criminal justice system.”
