Judge dismisses Hunter Biden gun case after presidential pardon

WASHINGTON

The judge overseeing Hunter Biden's conviction on federal gun charges dismissed the case Tuesday after President Joe Biden issued a sweeping pardon to his son.

District Judge Maryellen Noreika's decision to close the case came one week before the junior Biden was to be sentenced after being convicted by a jury on all three gun crimes he faced. Hunter Biden was found guilty by a jury on federal gun charges linked to his possession of a firearm while he was addicted to drugs in 2018.

He has since acknowledged that he was addicted to drugs during that time, but is now sober. He faced up to 25 years in prison until the president issued his pardon Sunday for the gun crimes and another set of charges related to his failure to pay $1.4 million in taxes. Hunter Biden separately pleaded guilty to those offenses.

Nearly one month before the end of his term, the elder Biden formally pardoned his son, despite previous promises not to use his executive powers to do so.

In announcing his action, the president said in a lengthy statement that the charges against his son were politically motivated, adding that "raw politics has infected" the justice system and resulted in a "miscarriage of justice."

"No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. 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," he said.

"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," he added.