Joe Biden singled out for heavy criticism in special counsel's report on Hunter case

Washington DC - The special counsel who prosecuted Hunter Biden accused President Joe Biden on Monday of undermining public confidence in the justice system with his criticism of the investigation into his son.

President Joe Biden (l.) was heavily criticized in the final report published by the special counsel who prosecuted his son, Hunter.
President Joe Biden (l.) was heavily criticized in the final report published by the special counsel who prosecuted his son, Hunter.  © MANDEL NGAN / AFP

Hunter was convicted of gun and tax crimes in cases brought by special counsel David Weiss but was pardoned by his father in December.

Weiss, in his final report on the case released Monday, noted that the president, in announcing the pardon, had criticized the prosecution of his 54-year-old son, calling it "selective," "unfair," "infected" by "raw politics," and a "miscarriage of justice."

"This statement is gratuitous and wrong," Weiss said. "Other presidents have pardoned family members, but in doing so, none have taken the occasion as an opportunity to malign the public servants at the Department of Justice based solely on false accusations."

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The special counsel said the prosecutions of Hunter Biden were "the culmination of thorough, impartial investigations, not partisan politics.

"Calling those rulings into question and injecting partisanship into the independent administration of the law undermines the very foundation of what makes America's justice system fair and equitable," he said.

"It erodes public confidence in an institution that is essential to preserving the rule of law."

Hunter Biden was convicted last year of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun – a felony – and he pleaded guilty in a separate tax evasion case.

His father had repeatedly said he would not pardon Hunter, but then pulled a U-turn, insisting that "(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."

Cover photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP

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