President Joe Biden believed as recently as May that Hunter Biden was innocent of the charges he pled guilty to on Tuesday.
“My son has done nothing wrong,” Joe Biden told MSNBC on May 5.
“I trust him. I have faith in him, and it impacts my Presidency by making me feel proud of him,” he claimed.
Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two federal tax violation charges and one violation of gun laws, though the investigation remains ongoing, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware.
The plea deal appears to exclude any charges related to the alleged Biden “bribery” scheme in which Hunter and President Joe Biden accepted $5 million each from a Ukrainian energy company executive, Mykola Zlochevsky, according to an FBI informant file reviewed by the House Oversight Committee.
Joe Biden’s comment in May echos his statement from October 2022. “I have great confidence in my son,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“I love him and he’s on the straight and narrow and he has been for a couple years now. And I’m just so proud of him,” the president added.
First Lady Jill Biden also went on record to defend her stepson as innocent.
“Everybody and their brother has investigated Hunter,” Jill Biden told NBC News.
“They keep at it, and at it, and at it,” the first lady added. “I know that Hunter is innocent. I love my son, and I will keep looking forward.”
After the announced charges on Tuesday, Joe and Jill Biden did not admit the error of their former judgment.
“The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life,” they said through White House Spokesman Ian Sams.
“We will have no further comment,” the statement concluded.
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Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.