Biden pardons son Hunter ahead of sentencing: statement

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday issued an official pardon for his son Hunter, who is facing sentencing for two criminal cases related to tax evasion and the purchase of a firearm.

"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," the president said in a statement, calling it "a miscarriage of justice."

The younger Biden was convicted earlier this year of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun -- a felony -- and has also pleaded guilty in a separate tax evasion trial.

The pardon comes after Biden had repeatedly said he wouldn't intervene in his son's legal troubles. The White House press secretary said as recently as September that Biden wouldn't issue a pardon for Hunter.

At the same time, criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump have come to a standstill after a sweeping ruling on presidential immunity by the Supreme Court -- all but ensuring Biden's Republican rival will likely never see a jail cell, even after his landmark conviction for falsifying business records in May.

"I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted," Biden said in Sunday's statement.

"The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election," he added.

"I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process, and it led to a miscarriage of justice."