The Morning: A pardon for Hunter Biden

Plus, Trump, North Korea and the best TV and movies of 2024.

View in browser|nytimes.com December 2, 2024 Good morning. Today, my colleague Peter Baker is writing about the pardon of Hunter Biden. We're also covering Trump, North Korea and the best TV and movies of 2024. —David Leonhardt President Biden and Hunter Biden.  Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times A familial pardon By Peter Baker I'm the chief White House correspondent for The Times. President Biden and President-elect Donald Trump now agree on one thing: The Biden Justice Department has been politicized. Biden pardoned his son Hunter last night, brushing away two federal convictions and granting his son clemency for any wrongdoing over the past decade. In his statement announcing the pardon, Biden complained about selective prosecution and political pressure. And he questioned the fairness of a system that he had, before now, defended. "No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong," Biden said. "Here's the truth," he added. "I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice." Biden's decision to wipe his son's convictions on gun and tax charges came despite repeated statements that he would not do so. This past summer, after Hunter Biden was convicted, he said, "I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process." The statement he issued last night made clear he did not accept the outcome or respect the process. Trump has long argued that the justice system was "weaponized" against him, and that he is the victim of selective prosecution, much the way Biden has now said his son was. Similarities and differences Their arguments are different in important respects. Trump contends that the two indictments against him by Biden's Justice Department amounted to a partisan witch hunt targeting the sitting president's main rival. Biden did not explicitly accuse the Justice Department of being biased against his family, but he suggested that it was influenced by Republican politicians who have waged a long public campaign assailing Hunter Biden. The Justice Department has rejected both accusations. The prosecutions of Trump and Hunter Biden were each handled by separate special counsels, appointed specifically to insulate the cases from politics. Senior department officials have denied that politics entered the equation against either man. There is no evidence that Biden had any involvement in Trump's cases. But the pardon will make it harder for Democrats to defend the integrity of the Justice Department and stand against Trump's unapologetic plans to use it for political purposes. Trump has picked Kash Patel, an adviser who vowed to "come after" the president-elect's enemies, to be the next director of the F.B.I. To be sure, the cases against Trump and Hunter Biden are hardly comparable. Trump was charged with illegally trying to overturn an election and, in a separate indictment, with endangering national security. Hunter Biden was convicted of lying on a firearms application form about his drug addiction, and he pleaded guilty to failing to pay taxes, which he later paid. In his pardon statement, Biden sought to appeal to empathy for a father of a son who struggled with drug addiction, framing his decision in personal terms as Hunter Biden faced the possibility of years in prison. "I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision," he wrote. If he had left it at that, that might have been one thing. But it was his attack on the prosecution that raised questions of a dual-track justice system. "There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution," the president said. "In trying to break Hunter, they've tried to break me — and there's no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough." Read more of Peter's analysis. More on the pardon Biden told his son that he would be pardoned during a family gathering for Thanksgiving in Nantucket, Mass. "I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction," Hunter Biden said in a statement. The pardon covers any offenses Hunter Biden may have committed between 2014 and 2024. That may shield him from prosecution under Trump. Hunter Biden likely would not have qualified for a pardon recommendation under the Justice Department criteria, which suggests full pardons for those who have already served their sentences. Presidents have pardoned family members before. Bill Clinton pardoned his half brother for drug charges, and Trump pardoned his son-in-law's father, Charles Kushner, for tax evasion and other crimes. Reactions The pardon rattled Washington, The Hill reports. "While as a father I certainly understand President @JoeBiden's natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country," Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado, a Democrat, wrote on social media. In an online post, Trump called the pardon "an abuse and miscarriage of Justice" and mentioned the Jan. 6 rioters, whom he has pledged to pardon. THE LATEST NEWS Trump Administration Patel, a right-wing provocateur and Trump's pick to lead the F.B.I., has a history of making exaggerated and unsubstantiated claims about his experience that could complicate his Senate confirmation. Trump has continued to choose ideological warriors for government positions. For some voters who have lost faith in health agencies, Trump's selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the federal health department is a welcome disruption. More on Politics Biden will visit Angola in what will probably be his last overseas trip in office. He will highlight a $1 billion rail project, an effort to compete with China's influence in Africa. The Biden administration has announced broader restrictions on the advanced technology that can be sent to China. Middle East Near the northern Syrian town of Azaz. Rami Al Sayed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images For years, Syria has been able to fight opposition forces with the help of Iran, Russia and Hezbollah. With those allies distracted, rebels have taken the opportunity to seize new territory. Israel has fortified its military bases and demolished Palestinian buildings in central Gaza, a move that suggests it may be preparing to stay long-term. A former Israeli defense minister accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza. Allies of Benjamin Netanyahu said that the comments would hurt the country and help its enemies. More International News In Tbilisi, Georgia.  Giorgi Arjevanidze/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Demonstrators clashed with the police in Georgia's capital during a fourth consecutive day of protests over the government's suspension of a bid to join the European Union. A man who fled North Korea in the 1990s broadcasts a radio show to his homeland twice a day, delivering the kind of information Pyongyang tries to suppress. Russia's economy is slowing, causing concern among the country's elites. Dozens of people were killed in clashes during a soccer match in Guinea, according to news reports. Other Big Stories In Alexandria, Va. Moriah Ratner for The New York Times U.S. diplomats — as part of a deal with China — brought members of the Uyghur ethnic group to America. Read about the secret plan. A lake-effect storm has blanketed parts of Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania in snow. Opinions "The situation is very, very catastrophic": Read about a week in the life of Hussam Abu Safyia, one of the last doctors inside a northern Gaza hospital. There are certain periods of history in which the denial of evident truths gains the upper hand: This is one of those periods, Mark Lilla writes. Drug overdose deaths are falling in the U.S. — but not everyone is benefiting, Maia Szalavitz writes. Last chance to save on Cooking before Thanksgiving. Readers of The Morning: Save on a year of Cooking. 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N.F.L.: On a snow-caked field, the Buffalo Bills earned a 35-10 blowout win over the visiting San Francisco 49ers. N.B.A.: The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics with a 20-point fourth quarter from Donovan Mitchell. The win confirmed the upstart Cavs as the league's top team so far. College football: The Big Ten fined Ohio State and Michigan $100,000 each for a melee after their game on Saturday. ARTS AND IDEAS The New York Times Oxford University Press's word of the year is "brain rot," a phrase commonly used on social media to describe the deterioration of a person's mental state brought on by overconsumption of trivial online content. "Brain rot" triumphed over other contenders including "lore," "demure," "romantasy" and "dynamic pricing." More on culture Times television critics have collated a list of the year's best shows, including "Shogun" and "John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A." Our film critics compiled their own best of the year list, which features Jesse Eisenberg's "A Real Pain" and Ryusuke Hamaguchi's "Evil Does Not Exist." THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … David Malosh for The New York Times Braise chicken in red-pepper paste and flakes to make this reader favorite. Choose a quality all-inclusive resort. Get ahead on holiday shopping with these on-sale gifts. Transform your bun with this sleek pin. Browse Cyber Monday's best deals on cleaning products. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangrams were bighead and bigheaded. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. 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