Washington DC

US First Lady Jill Biden may have forced her husband, President Joe Biden, to pardon their son Hunter Biden in federal tax evasion and gun charges, according to US media reports. Jeff Zeleny, CNN’s chief national affairs correspondent, said on air on Monday (Dec 2) that “Clearly there was pressure inside the family.”

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“We were told really in recent weeks that Dr. Jill Biden – First Lady Jill Biden – was very supportive of the president doing something like this,” he added.

Zeleny said Biden was not sure about the pardon but the final push may have come from the First Lady herself.

While talking to reporters Monday, Jill Biden said she supported her husband’s move to pardon their son. “Of course, I support the pardon of my son,” the FLOTUS said.

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It was only in September that Hunter pleaded guilty to nine counts related to $1.4 million in unpaid taxes. Earlier in April, he was found guilty of three federal gun charges. White House kept stressing all these months that Joe Biden would not pardon his son, only to walk back on his previous commitment on Sunday (Dec 1).

Biden argued in favour of pardoning his son, saying Hunter “was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong.”

Also read: Trump slams Joe Biden for pardoning son Hunter, calls it 'abuse and miscarriage of Justice'

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“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. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here,” Biden said. “Enough is enough.”

The move irked Republicans big time.

Some members of Biden's own Democratic party were furious too, arguing that it could now make it harder for them to counter incoming president Donald Trump’s pledge to pardon himself in federal charges.

Watch: US: Biden Grants ‘Full And Unconditional’ Pardon To Son Hunter Biden

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“This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,” Colorado Govoner Jared Polis wrote on X.  

Representative Greg Stanton said on X: “This wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”

Colorado Senator Michael Bennet accused Biden of “putting personal interest ahead of duty”.

Meanwhile, Biden’s post on X made in May was flagged by fact-checkers in which the US president had claimed that “no one is above the law.”

Shorty after Biden pardoned his son, a community note alert appeared on the post, reading, “On December 1, 2024, President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, for crimes covering nearly 11 years of ‘offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.’”

(With inputs from agencies)