White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to engage with reporters on multiple occasions Wednesday when pressed on Hunter Biden’s Tuesday conviction, including whether the president is considering commuting his son’s sentence.
Hunter Biden was found guilty on three felony gun charges Tuesday, and in a statement, President Joe Biden wrote that he would “accept” the outcome of the trial and would not pardon Hunter Biden.
Jean-Pierre faced numerous questions about the president’s language while traveling to Italy on Wednesday. When asked specifically whether Biden commuting Hunter Biden’s sentence was “on the table,” Jean-Pierre pointed back to the president’s words.
“I have not spoken to the president about this, and what I’m saying is he was asked about a pardon. He was asked about the trial specifically, and he answered it very clearly,” she stated in one exchange. “I don’t have anything beyond what the president said.”
Jean-Pierre also declined to discuss any time the president spent Tuesday with Hunter or other Biden family members. Biden departed Washington, D.C., one day ahead of his scheduled Wednesday flight to Italy and spent Tuesday night in Wilmington, Delaware, after Hunter Biden’s verdict was handed down earlier in the day.
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She also would not say if the president had been monitoring the court proceedings live from the White House or if he had been informed of the verdict by a member of his staff.
“I’m just not going to go dive into any specifics here. I’m just not going to do that from here. This is about his family, it’s about his son who he loves and obviously supports. I know these questions are going to come a million different ways. As I’ve said before when I’ve been asked about this, we’re just going to be very consistent. I’ll stick to the statement that he put out, and I’m just going to leave it there.”