# Will Joe Biden pardon Hunter? (Answer: Yes. Pardoned on December 1, 2024) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 11, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425 "2023-12-11T16:07:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/1 "2023-12-11T16:07:40Z")
We talk about it every couple of years - how the pardon process is abused. In fact, didn’t we just have a thread on that? So here we go with a “will it be abused?” question. Hunter Biden is facing up to 17 years on various tax charges. What is important is that these are Federal charges so his father President Joe Biden could pardon him. Let’s make the prediction now. A) Will be pardoned before conviction. B) Will be pardoned after conviction. C) Will be acquitted so no pardon. D) Will be convicted but no pardon. Considering the trial will probably be concluded after the next election, I am hedging between A and B. If Biden loses re-election he will pardon Hunter January 19, 2025 even if the trial isn’t over. If Biden does win re-election and Hunter is convicted, Biden will pardon Hunter along with other controversial pardons on January 19, 2029. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/2 "2023-12-11T16:11:23Z")
No, I would bet a paycheck that he would not pardon his son. I think Biden is a very ethical human being who would consider doing so totally improper. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/3 "2023-12-11T16:12:57Z")
If he does, I’d expect it to be on his last day in office. But even more likely than that, IMO, is that Hunter is able to negotiate a plea with zero or very little jail time, or Hunter outright gets an acquittal. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/4 "2023-12-11T16:42:37Z")
For two, trump pardoned Kushner’s dad, and Bannon, after he ripped off trump’s own supporters. Those were righteous convictions, and not unfair sentences. So MAGAts wouldn’t have room to squawk it Joe pardoned Hunter. Actually, pardoning him might spur reform of the whole pardoning procedure. ---
**Author:** ![mjmartin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mjmartin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmartin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/5 "2023-12-11T16:58:22Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > So MAGAts wouldn’t have room to squawk it Joe pardoned Hunter. Actually, pardoning him might spur reform of the whole pardoning procedure. Only if MAGAts cared one bit about not being hypocritical, which would be a first. Plus Trump will be busy with pardoning all the January 6 convicted felons. If I were Biden I would pardon Hunter on 1/19/25 whether I was reelected or not. If he’s not reelected, what harm can it do? If he is reelected, it would be two years to the mid-terms and very few would still remember enough about the pardon to change their vote. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/6 "2023-12-11T17:05:33Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Hunter is able to negotiate a plea with zero or very little jail time, or Hunter outright gets an acquittal. This seems like the most likely outcome, since he _already_ had a zero-jail-time plea worked out for most of the same violations. So no pardon will be necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/7 "2023-12-11T18:03:23Z")
Yeah, I think option C. I think if the same exact charges were brought against _anybody else_, they would have settled this long ago with no jail time ever considered. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/8 "2023-12-11T18:19:39Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Considering the trial will probably be concluded after the next election, I am hedging between A and B. If Biden loses re-election he will pardon Hunter January 19, 2025 even if the trial isn’t over. If Biden does win re-election and Hunter is convicted, Biden will pardon Hunter along with other controversial pardons on January 19, 2029. This would be my guess too. The push back he’d receive in the former case is the first big landmark of the next Trump administration (and IMO the line in the sand where the US can no longer be considered a democracy) is when Trump pardons himself for whichever convictions happen in the next year. While pardoning your son is not actually the same as pardoning yourself, it will be spinned that way “Oh why are those sore loser Demoncats getting upset about Trump pardoning himself when Biden just pardoned Hunter?” The counterpoint is that kind of talking point won’t make the slightest bit of difference, so why should Biden let his only surviving son stay in prison (on a pretty BS charge) just so Democrats can have the moral high-ground while Trump ends the republic? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/9 "2023-12-11T18:53:20Z")
If he goes to trial and is convicted well in advance of the election, the President could also commute his sentence. That would be far less problematic. Hunter did do the crime, after all, but any custodial sentence is likely going to be far outside the norms for such convictions, because of the political BS associated with his case. If he’s only in prison because of political BS, it’s okay to use other political BS to let him out. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/10 "2023-12-11T18:57:26Z")
Biden might not do it. But Dark Brandon should and will. DB likes pushing Republican mischief back in their faces. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/11 "2023-12-11T19:41:58Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > No, I would bet a paycheck that he would not pardon his son. I think Biden is a very ethical human being who would consider doing so totally improper. I’m not betting a paycheck either, but Biden does show a strong tendency for family values, and the republicans have weaponized the justice system to charge Hunter with things that other people would not serve time for. I’d say that Biden would pardon his son in a second, if and when it becomes needed, or before he leaves office as a protective measure against political persecution which is unfortunately needed at this time. Additionally as mentioned above, Dark Brandon would, Joe’s alter ego. In some ways I think the persecution of Hunter has boiled down to getting Joe to pardon his son, as they know they have nothing but will keep bad mouthing Biden till these witch hunts are over. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/12 "2023-12-11T19:42:29Z")
At the risk of getting modded for junior modding, can y’all make some sort of effort to not turn this into the typical anti-Trump thread we see all over SD? This is just about Joe and Hunter Biden. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/13 "2023-12-11T19:58:00Z")
I hope he does not pardon Hunter. Further, I hope that if he does pardon him, it leads to severe restrictions of the pardon power of the president (somehow, don’t know how to accomplish it). Presidents aren’t kings and shouldn’t have that power. OK, to the actual question in the OP, if Hunter Biden is facing time, I think Joe Biden will pardon him, especially if he doesn’t get reelected. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/14 "2023-12-11T20:02:09Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > This is just about Joe and Hunter Biden. The problem is, you can’t really discuss this situation without reference to Trump et al., because this is all happening in order to give cover to all of Trump’s bullshit. As has been pointed out, in previous eras, such charges would have been dealt with in a straightforward manner, with close to zero chance of any prison time. This has only become significant because we’re in the Trump Era, where the GOP has decided to weaponize every aspect of government power they can to promote their political agenda, which means promoting Trump. It’s all intimately entwined. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/15 "2023-12-11T20:06:13Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > But even more likely than that, IMO, is that Hunter is able to negotiate a plea with zero or very little jail time, or Hunter outright gets an acquittal. Yep. This is a bogus witch hunt trail. So basically the original deal will come back, Hunter will spend no time in prison. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > This is just about Joe and Hunter Biden. No, it’s not since the MAGAs forced the court to dump the plea deal by politcal pressure. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/16 "2023-12-11T20:11:47Z")
I’m not the OP, but the question is, what do you think Biden will do? Not what should he do, or why he should do it. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/17 "2023-12-11T20:12:18Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > The problem is, you can’t really discuss this situation without reference to Trump et al., because this is all happening in order to give cover to all of Trump’s bullshit. Yeah you can. However we got to this indictment, the decision Biden makes does not depend on it. > [@DrDeth](#): > > No, it’s not since the MAGAs forced the court to dump the plea deal by politcal pressure. See above. None of that has anything to do with Joe’s decision-making process. These are just excuses to criticize Trump and add nothing to the discussion at hand viz. typical for the Dope. The ONLY non-Biden action that might enter into the discussion would be the blowback Clinton received for pardoning his half-brother. But even there, I would throw that on the pile of controversial pardons that every President has done on their last day. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/18 "2023-12-11T20:18:14Z")
I think that if Hunter does end up facing much more jail time than would be typical for someone who did what he did, that Biden will commute it down to whatever the typical punishment would have been. I don’t think he’ll completely pardon him. He’s the type to take responsibility for his actions, and to teach his children to take responsibility for their actions, too. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/19 "2023-12-11T20:23:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think that if Hunter does end up facing much more jail time than would be typical for someone who did what he did, that Biden will commute it down to whatever the typical punishment would have been So maybe if Hunter gets no prison time but a huge fine, Joe would choose not to pardon him. Would being a convicted felon realistically hurt Hunter’s future? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425/20 "2023-12-11T20:40:59Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > See above. None of that has anything to do with Joe’s decision-making process. Yes it does. The decision to vacate the reasonable and fair plea deal was 100% the fault of the MAGA run Congress unfairly interfering. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-joe-biden-pardon-hunter-answer-yes-pardoned-on-december-1-2024/994425.md?page=2)