Can Hunter Biden’s pardon be overturned? This is what the law says

Donald Trump has reacted with outrage at Joe Biden’s decision to issue a “full and unconditional” presidential pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, for his convictions on federal gun and tax charges.

In a post on Truth Social, his social-media platform, Trump described the move as “such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”

However, it does not appear that the US president-elect, who is due to replace Biden in the White House in January, will have the power to revoke the pardon when he takes office.

What was Hunter Biden convicted of?

Hunter Biden was convicted of three illegal gun possession charges in Delaware in June, before pleading guilty to nine tax offences in California in September. The 54-year-old was due to be sentenced in both cases later this month.

What did President Biden say about pardon?

President Biden had previously said he would not use his presidential authority to pardon Hunter, but on Sunday he announced his decision to reverse this stance, arguing that 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,” President Biden said.

“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. 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.”

According to a statement released by the White House, the pardon covers “those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted”.

Can a presidential pardon be revoked?

While there is precedent for commanders-in-chief revoking presidential pardons, it appears that Trump will be unable to do this as long as Hunter Biden’s pardon has been finalized before President Biden leaves office.

As the legal commentator David Allan Green notes, President Ulysses S Grant rescinded a pardon granted by outgoing President Andrew Johnson in 1869, and in 2008, President George W Bush revoked a pardon that he had himself issued.

However, these pardons could only be reversed because, while Presidents Johnson and Bush had stated their intention to grant them, the process of officially delivering the reprieve had not been completed.

Green describes this as “the procedural equivalent of dashing to the post room to intercept a letter before it is actually sent out”.

In his ruling on Grant’s revocation of the presidential pardon issued by Johnson, a federal judge said: “The law undoubtedly is, that when a pardon is complete, there is no power to revoke it“.

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