Northeast
Biden pardons son Hunter Biden ahead of exit from Oval Office
President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, after the first son was convicted in two separate federal cases earlier this year.
The announcement was made by the White House on Sunday night. The pardon applies to offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden “has committed or may have committed” from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 1, 2024.
“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” Biden wrote in a statement. “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”
The president went on to claim that his son was “treated differently” by prosecutors.
BIDEN WON’T PARDON HUNTER, WHITE HOUSE REAFFIRMS, BUT CRITICS AREN’T SO SURE
Hunter Biden, accompanied by his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, arrives at federal court on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
“Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form,” Biden added. “Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.”
Biden also referenced his son’s battle with addiction and blamed “raw politics” for the unraveling of Hunter’s plea deal.
“There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution,” the 82-year-old father wrote. “In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” Biden’s statement concluded.
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Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden departs the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 03, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Hunter Biden, 54, has had a busy year in court, kicking off his first trial in Delaware in June, when he faced three felony firearm offenses, before he pleaded guilty in a separate felony tax case in September.
President Biden pardoning his son is a departure from his previous remarks to the media over the summer, declaring he would not pardon the first son.
“Yes,” President Biden told ABC News when asked if he would rule out pardoning Hunter ahead of his guilty verdict in the gun case.
Days later, following a jury of Hunter’s peers finding him guilty of three felony firearm offenses, the president again said he would not pardon his son.
“I am not going to do anything,” Biden said after Hunter was convicted. “I will abide by the jury’s decision.”
In the gun case, Hunter was found guilty of making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
HUNTER BIDEN FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN GUN TRIAL
President Biden speaks at the Carpenters Local Union 445 “Get Out The Vote” event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 2, 2024. (Photo by Ting Shen/AFP via Getty Images)
Prosecutors specifically worked to prove that Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018, when he ticked a box labeled “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of substances or addicted to controlled substances.
Hunter has a well-documented history of drug abuse, which was most notably documented in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which walked readers through his previous need to smoke crack cocaine every 20 minutes, how his addiction was so prolific that he referred to himself as a “crack daddy” to drug dealers, and anecdotes revolving around drug deals, such as a Washington, D.C., crack dealer Biden nicknamed “Bicycles.”
HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 5 AFTER TESTIMONY FROM SISTER-IN-LAW-TURNED-GIRLFRIEND: ‘PANICKED’
Hunter’s attorneys did not dispute the first son’s long history with substance abuse amid the trial, which also included an addiction to alcohol. The defense instead argued that on the day Biden bought the Cobra Colt .38, he did not consider himself an active drug addict, citing the first son’s stint in rehab ahead of the October 2018 purchase.
Prosecutors, however, argued Biden was addicted to crack cocaine before, during and after he bought the handgun. Just one day after the gun purchase, prosecutors showed the court that Biden texted Hallie Biden, his sister-in-law-turned-girlfriend, to say he was “waiting for a dealer named Mookie.” A day after that text, he texted that he was “sleeping on a car smoking crack on 4th Street and Rodney” in Wilmington.
Hunter Biden, Melissa Cohen Biden, right, and first lady Jill Biden leave the federal court after the jury finds him guilty on all three counts in his trial on criminal gun charges, in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 11, 2024. (REUTERS/Hannah Beier)
A jury deliberated for roughly three hours across two days before they found Hunter guilty on each charge.
Hunter was scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 13, which was delayed until December before his dad intervened.
After President Biden dropped out of the presidential race in July amid mounting concerns over his mental acuity and age, Hunter faced another trial regarding three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.
As jury selection was about to kick off in Los Angeles federal court, Hunter entered a surprise guilty plea.
HUNTER BIDEN PLEADS GUILTY TO ALL NINE FEDERAL TAX CHARGES BROUGHT BY SPECIAL COUNSEL DAVID WEISS
“I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment,” Hunter said in an emailed statement at the time. “For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty.”
A court sketch depicts Hunter Biden’s federal trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday, June 10, 2024. (William J. Hennessy Jr.)
The charges carried up to 17 years behind bars, but the first son would likely have faced a much shorter sentence under federal sentencing guidelines. His sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 16.
Ahead of the president’s decision to pardon his son, President-elect Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he would consider pardoning Hunter if victorious on Nov. 5.
Former President Donald Trump is pictured at an election night watch party on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP/Alex Brandon)
“I wouldn’t take it off the books,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt in October. “See, unlike Joe Biden, despite what they’ve done to me, where they’ve gone after me so viciously. . . . And Hunter’s a bad boy.”
“There’s no question about it. He’s been a bad boy,” Trump continued. “But I happen to think it’s very bad for our country.”
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New Hampshire
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New Jersey
Crime in N.J. keeps dropping, Murphy says. See the new stats on shootings, car thefts.
As he enters his final weeks in office, Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday touted a decline in crime across New Jersey.
Speaking at a court and police building in East Rutherford, Murphy said there were 559 shooting victims statewide last year, a 28% decline compared to the previous year.
Of the 559 victims, 107 were fatalities.
At the start of his term, more than 1,300 people were shot annually, Murphy said. The 2025 reduction marks the fourth consecutive year of declines in gun violence injuries.
“That’s not to say we are perfect,” Murphy said. “Because the objective is to get it down to zero.”
Motor vehicle thefts also dropped in 2025 — from 15,041 to 13,693 — according to New Jersey State Police statistics. That was a 9% decrease.
Murphy signed legislation in July 2023 that increased criminal penalties for auto theft offenders, focusing on repeat offenses and large-scale automobile trafficking.
“While there is more work to be done, this moment underscores the strength of the tools, practices and initiatives that have been put in place during the Murphy administration to protect residents and support lasting public safety across our state,” Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way said.
State Attorney General Matthew Platkin attributed the decline in crime to treating gun violence as a public health issue.
“That happened because of a sustained commitment to treating gun violence like the public health crisis it is,” Platkin said.
Platkin also cited drops in shootings in New Jersey’s largest cities, including Paterson, which saw a state police takeover after a corruption scandal. Shootings in the city fell to 42 last year from 127 the year before, he said.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said his city also saw historic lows in shootings and murders, with killings dropping to 31 last year, a 19% decrease from the previous year.
“Even as we laud our accomplishments, and we have many to talk about, we still have people who have been victimized in our city,” Baraka said last week.
State officials lauded local gun violence interruption groups as integral to the reduction.
“These groups are doing good and important work,” Platkin said.
Murphy said the coalitions often engage communities in ways law enforcement cannot.
“They’re on the streets, they know the community unlike any of us,” Murphy said. “They know it better than law enforcement. They know it better than elected officials.”
New Jersey’s acting State Police superintendent, Lt. Col. David Sierotowicz, said the reduction in crime was the result of collaboration between multiple government agencies and community partnerships.
“These reductions in crime represent more than statistics — they represent lives saved,” Sierotowicz said.
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