- By Halimah Olamide
President Joe Biden of the United States on Friday vowed not to dabble into the affairs of the judiciary even with the sentencing of his son, Hunter Biden.
The younger 54 year old Biden was found guilty of f lying about his drug use on a form while purchasing a handgun in 2018.
Family members of the president including the First Lady Jill Biden had attended the trial in a Delarware court until the 12 an jury found him guilty.
BBC reported that President Biden flew to Wilmington, Delaware, after the verdict where he greeted and hugged his son on the tarmac.
“I am the president, but I am also a dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today,” he said in a statement. Mr Biden added that he would “accept the outcome of this case and… continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal”.
Hunter Biden goes into record as the first child of a sitting president to be so sentenced.
Though he has considered an appeal, he may go to jail
The president has also ruled out the possibility of a pardon for his son.
BBC reported further on Friday,
The verdict on Tuesday prompted instant political reaction, including from Republicans in Congress who have spent years investigating Hunter Biden’s behaviour and business ties.
James Comer, the Republican chair of the House oversight committee, said it marked a “step toward accountability”, but added that “everyone involved” in what he called the “Bidens’ corrupt influence peddling schemes” should be investigated.
A statement from the Trump campaign, meanwhile, said the trial had “been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family”. The former president has often used that description of the family on the campaign trail, referring toallegations of improper conductmade against the president and his son by Republicans.
Democrats in Congress accused their Republican colleagues of hypocrisy, and praised the US justice system.
“Compare and contrast the difference in reaction between the Republicans and the Democrats,” Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin said in a hearing.
Referring to Trump’s criminal conviction, he said: “The Republicans are attacking our entire system of justice and the rule of law because they don’t like the way one case came out, whereas the son of the president of the United States is prosecuted and I don’t hear a single Democrat crying foul.”