The special counsel who secured convictions in two cases against President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, criticized the outgoing president in his final report.
Special counsel David Weiss prosecuted Hunter Biden for gun charges and tax evasion. A jury convicted the president’s son in the gun case and Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to the tax charges.
In December, President Joe Biden granted his son an unconditional pardon that puts 11 years of Hunter Biden’s actions beyond the reach of the justice system.
Weiss pushed back against the president’s comments that the prosecutions had been unfair.
“These prosecutions were the culmination of thorough, impartial investigations, not partisan politics,” Weiss wrote in the report. “Eight judges across numerous courts have rejected claims that they were the result of selective or vindictive motives. Calling those rulings into question and injecting partisanship into the independent administration of the law undermines the very foundation of what makes America’s justice system fair and equitable. It erodes public confidence in an institution that is essential to preserving the rule of law.”
Weiss’ final report echoed comments made by the judge who oversaw Hunter Biden’s tax case in California. District Judge Mark Scarsi said the president’s pardon doesn’t change the facts of the case and wouldn’t rewrite history.
President Joe Biden gave his son a broad pardon for any and all crimes he committed over the past decade. The president said his son was unfairly singled out for prosecution.
Scarsi said that wasn’t the case. He noted that “two federal judges expressly rejected Mr. Biden’s arguments that the Government prosecuted Mr. Biden because of his familial relation to the President.”
“The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history,” Scarsi wrote.
Weiss defended his work.
“Far from selective, these prosecutions were the embodiment of the equal application of justice no matter who you are, or what your last name is, you are subject to the same laws as everyone else in the United States,” Weiss wrote in his final report.
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty over the summer to federal charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2020. In June, a jury in Delaware convicted Hunter Biden of illegally buying and owning a gun while using crack cocaine.
