Trump excuse to pardon Biden son?...White House "because of the political enemies"

[Anchor]
The White House explained that U.S. President Biden's decision to pardon his second son ahead of his retirement was aimed at preventing Trump's political offensive.

However, critics say that if Trump abuses his judicial power since taking office, the cause to prevent it has weakened.

This is Washington correspondent Hong Sang-hee.

[Reporter]
After a Christmas event at the White House, a question followed for Dame Jill Biden.

[Jill Biden/U.S. First Lady: (Do you support Hunter Biden's pardon?) Of course. I support my son's pardon.]

The amnesty announced about a month before he left office has been criticized for being "innerly indifferent," but no additional position has been made by President Biden, who is on a trip to Angola.

However, a White House spokesman said in an in-flight briefing that the decision was made to prevent political attacks from political opponents.

[Caryn Jean-Pierre/U.S. White House Press Secretary: One of the reasons the president decided to pardon him was that his political opponents didn't seem to let it go (the Hunter Biden issue).]

He also stressed that he disagrees with Trump's criticism that he weaponized pardons for political purposes.

The sentence for Hunter Biden, which was scheduled for the 12th and 16th, is also expected to be canceled due to unconditional pardons.

The repercussions are growing as President Joe Biden, who has vowed not to pardon his son, has reversed his promise.

[Joe Biden/President of the United States (last June): I am happy with my decision to do nothing. I said I would follow the jury's decision, and I'm not pardoning him.]

Republicans, as well as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, have been criticized for setting a bad precedent that future presidents can abuse.

In particular, there are concerns that Trump's criticism that he is undermining political neutrality by selecting loyalists for the attorney general and the FBI director one after another will lose power.

I'm Hong Sang-hee from Washington.