The White House is not ruling out a possible commutation of the sentence for Hunter Biden, the US president’s son who was convicted of three federal gun-related crimes.
“As we all know, the sentencing date has not even been scheduled yet,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday. , as President Joe Biden traveled to the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Italy.
She said she had not spoken to the president about the issue since the verdict was handed down on Tuesday.
“He was very clear, very direct, obviously very definitive,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said of the president’s remarks on a possible pardon. But regarding a commutation, “I just don’t have anything other than that,” she said.
A pardon is an expression of forgiveness for a criminal offense that restores certain rights, such as voting, that a person loses upon conviction. A commutation instead reduces the sentence, but leaves the conviction intact.
The White House’s position is a change from what it said in September, when Ms. Jean-Pierre was asked whether the president would “pardon or commute his son if convicted.” The spokesperson then replied: “I have already answered this question. I was asked this not so long ago, a few weeks ago. And I was very clear and said no.”
All three counts are punishable by up to 25 years in prison. However, it is up to U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika to decide whether the president’s son will actually serve any time behind bars. The judge, appointed to the bench by former Republican President Donald Trump, did not immediately set a date for sentencing.
