Kremlin reacts to Hunter Biden pardon

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has referred to the US president’s decision regarding his son as “American internal affairs”

The Kremlin has refused to comment on US President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son. The outgoing leader went back on an earlier pledge not to interfere in criminal cases against Hunter Biden.

In June, the younger Biden was convicted on three felony counts of lying about his drug addiction when buying a handgun in 2018. In a separate case, he pleaded guilty in September to three felonies and six misdemeanor tax offenses, with the sentencing scheduled for this month.

When asked for a comment on Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov replied: “We have nothing to say, these are American internal affairs.”

Speaking to Izvesita the same day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the presidential pardon as a “caricature of democracy.”

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In a statement late on Sunday, President Biden announced that the “full and unconditional pardon” applies to offenses that his son “has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted.”

Biden claimed that his son had been prosecuted “selectively and unfairly” because of familial ties, pointing the finger at his Republican opponents.

Since Joe Biden assumed the top job in 2021, several prominent GOP politicians have accused his son of acting as a middleman in corrupt dealings overseas – a claim vehemently denied by the president.

Taking to his Truth Social platform on Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump described Biden’s decision as an “abuse and miscarriage of Justice.”

Billionaire tech tycoon Elon Musk, whom the Republican has appointed to head a so-called Department of Government Efficiency, suggested on X that Biden’s pardon was “impugning the integrity of the United States.”

Several Republican members of Congress have also slammed the outgoing president’s clemency toward his son.

Andy Biggs claimed that “Joe Biden will go down as one of the most corrupt presidents in American history,” with fellow lawmaker Josh Hawley characterizing the pardon as an “outrageous abuse of the rule of law.”

The Republican-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Accountability also released a statement, saying that “Joe Biden’s unprecedented abuse of power has been a stain on the honor of the US presidency.”