Joe Biden has commuted sentences for roughly 1,500 people and granted 39 pardons in the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history, the White House announced Thursday.
The commuted sentences were for people released from prison and placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic who had “successfully reintegrated into their families and communities,” according to the White House statement.
“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” a separate statement attributed to Biden said. “As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses.”
The White House did not release the names of those receiving pardons and sentence commutations.
Biden has already issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors, according to the White House, and he’s apparently not finished yet.
“I will take more steps in the weeks ahead. My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances,” he said.
Biden’s move Thursday eclipses the second largest single-day act of clemency: Barack Obama reportedly commuted 330 sentences just before leaving office in 2017.
The pardons come as Biden continues to ride out bipartisan criticism over his full and unconditional pardon of his son, Hunter, on Dec. of felony gun and tax charges. The shocking pardon covered all offenses Hunter “may have committed” between 2014 and 2024.
Hunter Biden was convicted of federal gun charges and federal tax evasion charges earlier this year. The gun and tax evasion charges came only after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected the “sweetheart” plea deal between Delaware US attorney David Weiss and the defendant’s attorneys in July 2023. Noreika had said she was concerned about the language in the diversion agreement, which included “details about not prosecuting Biden for tax crimes in the future,” amid an ongoing investigation.
Biden claimed in his pardoning statement that Hunter was “singled out only because he is my son” and that there was an effort to “break Hunter” in order to “break me.”
A day after the pardon, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had the audacity to say: “One thing the president believes is to always be truthful with the American people.”
The judge in Hunter’s case later blasted Biden for “trying to rewrite history” and for accusing investigators, prosecutors and himself of political bias.
According to the latest Associated Press poll, the scandalous pardon is also wildly unpopular with the American people, with only 2 in 10 approving of the nakedly corrupt move.
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