Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, and his wife Melissa Cohen.
Image: Robyn Beck / AFP
Hunter Biden said that his past mistakes had been used to humiliate his family for "political sport," commenting on his father, outgoing US President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon him.
President Biden signed an executive order pardoning his son Hunter on Sunday, saying the decision was driven by his belief in the injustice of the prosecution.
President-elect Donald Trump criticised the pardon, calling it an "abuse and miscarriage of justice".
"I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction — mistakes that were exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport," Hunter Biden told Fox News on Sunday.
He added that he had maintained his sobriety for more than five years.
"I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering," Hunter Biden said.
The president's second son has reportedly signed his name on the legal acknowledgment of the pardon.
Trump will not be able to revoke the pardon after taking office, nor will he be able to reopen the criminal investigation against Biden Jr, the Politico reported on Monday, citing Samuel Morison, a lawyer in the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney.
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges and was found guilty of being an illegal drug user in possession of a firearm this year, becoming the first child of a sitting president to face criminal charges.
He was charged with two counts of willful tax evasion for failing to pay more than $100,000 in taxes in 2017 and 2018 and separately with possessing a Colt pistol in 2018 while he was using illegal drugs, which also violates the law and carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
He was scheduled to be sentenced in December.
The pardoning decision was made three days after the Thanksgiving.
Several media reported that, while leaning toward pardoning Hunter since Trump's election victory, Biden may have made his final decision after the family discussion during the Thanksgiving celebrations.
The TMZ news website reported on Monday that Biden had the son's pardoning planned since September, which Hunter was well aware of.
Sputnik