In one of his final acts before leaving the White House, Joe Biden has taken the decision to pardon his son, Hunter, who was set to face sentencing this month on federal felony gun and tax convictions. In doing so he becomes the first president to issue a pardon for his son, which forgives any convictions for federal crimes. The president argued that despite his belief in the justice system, politics had “infected” this process and led to his son being treated differently. Donald Trump has called the decision an "abuse and miscarriage of justice". Where does the decision leave America’s justice system, and how much damage will it have on Joe Biden’s legacy? The Americast team once again join Matt Chorley on 5 Live to answer your questions… HOSTS: • Matt Chorley, 5 Live presenter • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Marianna Spring, Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent GET IN TOUCH: * Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB * Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 * Email Americast@bbc.co.uk * Or use #Americast This episode was made by George Dabby with Catherine Fusillo. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app. You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers. US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155 Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including The Global Story, The Today Podcast, and of course Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below. The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd The Today Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm
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The White House spokeswoman Karen Jean Pierre could not have been clearer when she said this in July.
The president would not pardon or commute.
The sentence for his son Hunter.
I just want to make sure that.
That is not going to change over.
The next six months.
The President is saying he would not.
It's still a no.
It's still a no.