Pres. Joe Biden has officially pardoned his son Hunter Biden after promising not to. Biden, 54, has been awaiting sentencing following federal tax charges and gun charges.

In June, Biden was found guilty on three gun-related charges such as lying on his application form about drug use and owning a gun illegally for 11 days. Biden faced up to 25 years in prison following his January conviction.

In a Dec. 1 statement, Pres. Biden revealed the pardoning of his son and claimed those who misfile forms for weapons are never treated as harshly as was his son. He also said that when someone misfiles taxes because of their addiction, such people are typically given non-criminal retaliation.

Pres. Biden also said, “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.”

Throughout his campaign, after withdrawing from the 2024 presidential election, and after Donald J. Trump won the election, Pres. Biden said he would not pardon his son. Biden’s consistency with not pardoning his son followed a theme of his campaign, to protect the integrity and independence of the justice system.

But Biden was not only on trial for guns, he has also been awaiting sentencing on a federal tax case. The case consists of nine different charges, all of which he pled guilty to in September. Biden’s tax charges ranged from tax evasion to filing false returns all from 2016 – 2019.

Pres. Biden said, “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.”

While Biden pleaded guilty in his June gun case, some legal professionals believe he wouldn’t have done so without hoping for leniency. The trial dove into Biden’s drug addiction, as well as his lavish spending habit, most of which were on strippers, cars and drugs.

The pardon angered some Pres. Biden supporters. The New York Times said, “This was a significant misstep that could leave lasting damage.”

Though Pres. Biden is not the only president to have used his pardon power for friends or loved ones, he is the first to do so with someone so closely related and after insisting he would not do so.

Rep. Greg Landsman, an Ohio Democrat said on X, “As a father I get it, but as someone who wants people to believe in public service again, it’s a setback.”

Pres. Biden has a little over a month left in office and the White House said he is expected to make more pardons and clemencies as his term nears its end.