Judge overseeing Hunter Biden tax case blasts President Biden for pardon

The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s tax case sharply criticized President Biden late Tuesday night for pardoning his son, accusing the president of misrepresenting the facts of the case when he announced the move.

In a brief five-page order, U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi said that “no reasonable person” who looks at the facts of Hunter Biden’s tax case would conclude that he was singled out for political reasons.

Judge Scarsi, a Trump appointee, noted that two federal judges rejected Hunter Biden’s claims of selective prosecution in his bid to get the tax evasion charges, as well as separate federal gun charges in Delaware, all dismissed.

“The president’s own attorney general and Department of Justice personnel oversaw the investigation leading to the charges,” Judge Scarsi wrote. “In the president’s estimation, the legion of federal civil servants, the undersigned included, are unreasonable people.”

Judge Scarsi also strongly rebuked Mr. Biden for claiming his son was treated differently than others who paid their taxes late because of addiction.

In his guilty plea, Hunter Biden acknowledged that he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes after he regained his sobriety. It was during that time that Hunter Biden misclassified personal expenses — like luxury clothing, escort services and his daughter’s tuition — as business expenses.

“The Constitution provides the president with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, but nowhere does the Constitution give the president the authority to rewrite history,” Judge Scarsi wrote, adding that a press release accompanying the pardon stands “in tension with the case record.”

“A press release is not a pardon,” Judge Scarsi added.

The judge said he would dispose of the tax case once he received the official pardon from the “appropriate executive agency.” Still, he canceled Hunter Biden’s sentencing, which was scheduled for Dec. 16.

Judge Scarsi did not say whether he would dismiss the charges, which Hunter Biden’s legal team has requested or just terminate further proceedings.

Earlier Tuesday, a federal judge in Delaware terminated further proceedings in the separate gun case in which Hunter Biden was convicted in June, but she declined to dismiss the charges.

Separately, Judge Scarsi questioned the pardon’s sweeping and broad language, which granted Hunter Biden clemency for offenses committed between Jan. 1, 2014 and Dec. 1, 2024.

The judge said Mr. Biden may have exceeded his presidential pardon power by granting relief for future offenses that may have occurred before the day ended.

“The warrant may be read to apply prospectively to conduct that had not yet occurred at the time of its execution, exceeding the scope of the pardon power,” Judge Scarsi wrote, saying he views the pardon as only covering conduct “through the time of execution” on Sunday night.

Mr. Biden issued a “full and unconditional pardon” absolving the first son from consequences of the tax case in which he pleaded guilty and the gun case that resulted in a conviction on the federal charges by a Delaware jury.

In his statement denouncing the criminal cases, Mr. Biden said the criminal charges were a “miscarriage of justice” saying that “raw politics” had infected his son’s cases.