White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) played a key role in convincing President Biden to pardon his son Hunter.
Jean-Pierre claimed Biden, 82, “wrestled” with the decision to pardon his son for any and all crimes he committed between 2014 and 2024 — but it was a visit by Clyburn, 84, that tipped the scales and led the president to go back on his repeated promises not to do so.
“You heard this president say this many times before, he believes when it comes to his family, when it comes to how he moves forward, about thinking about his family, they’re the beginning, the middle and the end,” Jean-Pierre said.
“And he wrestled with this. It was not an easy thing for him to decide.”
A federal jury convicted Hunter, 54, in June of three felony charges after he lied on a gun purchase form in 2018, claiming he was not using or addicted to drugs when in fact he had an active crack cocaine habit at the time.