A Look Back At The U.S. Presidents Who Have Pardoned Family Members

Presidential pardons have long triggered controversy, with amnesty granted for everything from murder, piracy, espionage, treason and even conspiring to kidnap a U.S. president. But it is President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter, this week that is drawing the latest wave of outcry and contention.

Sitting presidents under the U.S. Constitution have the right to pardon anyone for federal crimes. The Office of the Pardon Attorney, which assists the president with investigating and recommending applicants, advocates pardons as second-chance opportunities. Though they don’t expunge or erase a federal conviction, they do remove legal disabilities due to the conviction, like the right to vote or bear arms.

Here’s a look back at some of the presidential pardons given by a sitting U.S. president to his own family.

Joe Biden has issued 157 pardons and commutations between 2021 and this year. These pardons include this week’s pardon of his son, Hunter, who was convicted of tax fraud, and three felony counts related to a 2018 gun purchase and possession of a gun while using narcotics.

The pardon came as a shock, as Joe Biden had repeatedly insisted that he would not shield his son. On Sunday, he justified his reversed decision by saying his son had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”

“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,” he said in a statement.

Donald Trump issued 238 pardons and commutations between 2017 and 2021. These included a pardon of Charles Kushner, who is the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Kushner was convicted in 2004 of 18 counts of tax evasion, retaliating against a federal witness, and making illegal campaign donations.

Trump’s press office justified Kushner’s absolution by citing his philanthropic work following his prison sentence.

“Since completing his sentence in 2006, Mr. Kushner has been devoted to important philanthropic organizations and causes, such as Saint Barnabas Medical Center and United Cerebral Palsy,” the White House said. “This record of reform and charity overshadows Mr. Kushner’s conviction and 2 year sentence for preparing false tax returns, witness retaliation, and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission.”

Trump has since announced the selection of Kushner to serve as the next ambassador to France.

Bill Clinton issued approximately 450 pardons and commutations between 1993 and 2001 (176 were issued on his final day in office). These included a pardon to his half-brother, Roger Clinton.

Clinton’s younger brother had been convicted of cocaine possession and drug trafficking in 1985. Roger’s pardon was particularly controversial, as it followed him being investigated by Congress for accepting money and a Rolex watch in exchange for lobbying the president to pardon reputed Gambino crime family member Rosario Gambino of drug charges. Bill Clinton considered the pardon but ultimately did not issue it.

Abraham Lincoln issued approximately 340 pardons and commutations during his 1861 to 1865 presidency. These included granting amnesty to his wife Mary’s half-sister, Emilie Todd Helm, whose Confederate general husband was killed in the Civil War.

Helm was among the first to receive a pardon under Lincoln’s then-newly issued Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction of 1863, which granted amnesty to former Confederates. News of her stay in the White House while being granted amnesty drew public outcry and complaints due to her being a Confederate rebel.