Jill Biden Admits She Wanted Hunter Pardoned
Former first lady Jill Biden said in a new CBS News interview that she fully supported President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon Hunter Biden. She said the justice process was unfair and suggested the political landscape changed after Donald Trump won the 2024 election.
“The Justice Department changed, and the process was not fair to Hunter,” Jill Biden told CBS News “Sunday Morning.”
She went further and tied the move to Trump’s victory. “When Trump was elected, things changed,” she said, “and we knew that he would target Hunter. And we just could not let our son go to jail on a charge that no one would go — I mean, no one has ever gone to jail for.”
Asked directly whether she pushed her husband to pardon Hunter Biden, she did not back away from it.
“Oh gosh, I truly supported it. I wanted him to pardon Hunter at that point, and I agreed with Joe,” she said.
Hunter Biden, now 56, was convicted in Delaware on June 11, 2024, on three counts tied to lying about drug use when buying a firearm in 2018. Later, in September 2024, he pleaded guilty in federal court in Los Angeles to tax charges involving a reported $1.4 million in unpaid taxes.
The cases were handled by former Special Counsel David Weiss, who was appointed during Joe Biden’s administration. The legal fight got messier after a plea deal collapsed in June 2023. That deal would have brought probation instead of prison time, but it fell apart when Hunter Biden’s lawyers sought immunity over possible Foreign Agents Registration Act issues.
IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler also turned the case into a bigger political firestorm. They said prosecutors took steps that helped Hunter Biden during the investigation. Their allegations included warnings to the defense about a planned search and limits on investigative steps tied to Joe Biden’s overseas business connections.
Jill Biden also brushed off the criticism over the firearm case. But the comparison has been hard to ignore. The article noted that rapper Kodak Black received a 46-month sentence after pleading guilty in 2019 to giving an incorrect Social Security number on a federal gun form.
Despite repeated public denials from the White House, Joe Biden issued a broad pardon for Hunter on Dec. 1, 2024. The pardon covered offenses from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024, including crimes Hunter Biden had not even been charged with.
Before leaving office on Jan. 20, 2025, Joe Biden also issued preemptive pardons for several family members, including his brothers James and Frank Biden, his sister Valerie Biden Owens, and their spouses. Jill Biden said that was done because her husband believed they could face future targeting.
“I suppose for the same reason, that he felt that they would be targeted,” she said.
James Biden had already drawn scrutiny from House Republicans, who examined records showing he sent $240,000 to Joe Biden in 2017 and 2018. James Biden said those payments were repayments of personal loans. Republicans later accused him of misleading Congress and pressed for criminal charges, while also raising questions about possible unregistered foreign lobbying.
The whole episode keeps fueling questions about special treatment, family ties, and how the justice system handles politically connected people. Jill Biden’s comments only add another layer to a mess that never really went away.
A clip from the interview circulated online:
https://x.com/RichSementa/status/2061138297431163149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw