Reporters Ask If Biden Will Pardon Hunter After New 9-Count Indictment During Air Force One Briefing
Reporters peppered White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about First Son Hunter Biden’s latest indictment — including whether or not President Joe Biden would pardon his son.
Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss handed down a nine-count indictment against Hunter Biden Thursday on federal tax charges in a case that will be presided over by Trump-appointed Federal District Court Judge Mark Scarsi.
Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell accused the DOJ of selective prosecution, writing in a statement “Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought.”
On Friday, reporters tried to scream above the engine noise and distance as the president boarded Air Force One, but could not get the full question out.
At Friday’s White House press briefing aboard Air Force One — typically referred to as a “gaggle” — Jean-Pierre took questions after NSC spokesman John Kirby led off the Q&A.
One reporter asked if President Biden’s previous promise not to pardon Hunter was still in effect given the new charges, then asked about the supplemental funding bill being negotiated:
Q One more on this. Only because you’ve said it before, I just want to re-up in — in light of these new charges. You’ve said before that the President would not pardon his son. Is that still the case?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Nothing has changed. That is still the case.
Q Also, on the supplemental, Congress has left town without a supplemental bill — without any progress on the supplemental bill. The administration has said that this needs to be done before year’s end. What is the President doing to engage on this?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, the President spoke pretty — pretty clearly about this the other day and made the case about how Congress needs to — needs to support Ukraine and — so it can fight against Putin. You heard him say that just two days ago, and that is certainly the case.
Look, Senate Republicans needs to stop playing chicken with our national security. That’s what they need to stop doing. They need to — they need to — to compromise. They need to have a conversation and compromise so that we can get this done and make sure that we’re taking care of our national security.
We have been, obviously, in touch with nego- — with negotiators on the Hill. We’re providing technical support. That is something that I — we’ve said before, but — and the President has said that he’s willing to compromise. He is. He’s willing to compromise, but they can’t play chicken with our national security. They cannot do that.
Watch above via The White House.
