Biden commutes 1,500 jail sentences, grants pardons for 39 others: 'Largest single-day grant of clemency'
The sentences commuted were for inmates placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden has commuted jail sentences for nearly 1,500 people and granted 39 pardons, marking the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history, the White House announced Thursday morning.
Sentences were commuted for inmates placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who "have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities," according to the announcement. The 39 individuals pardoned were convicted of non-violent crimes, the White House said.
"The President has issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms," White House officials said in a statement.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Biden hinted that he plans to make more pardons and clemencies before he leaves office.
WHO ELSE MIGHT BIDEN PARDON AFTER HE SPARED HUNTER FROM SENTENCING?
President Biden commuted 1,500 jail sentences and pardoned 39 others on Thursday in the largest single-day act of clemency in modern American history, according to the White House. (Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"I will take more steps in the weeks ahead. My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances," Biden said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Thursday's pardons come as the president faces bipartisan criticism for pardoning his son, Hunter, of felony gun and tax charges.
Biden vowed multiple times across several months that he would not intervene on his son's behalf, only to go back on his word on Dec. 1. While public figures have criticized the move, it was also widely unpopular with the American people. A Wednesday poll from The Associated Press found just 2 in 10 Americans approved of the pardon.
Hunter Biden flashes a big smile as he leaves an Arby's in Santa Barbara, California, on Dec. 4. This was the first time that the son of President Biden had been photographed since he received a pardon. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
The first son had been convicted in two separate federal cases earlier this year. He pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in September, and was convicted of three felony gun charges in June after lying on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MOTHER OF HUNTER BIDEN'S DAUGHTER DEFENDS PARDON, SAYS HE'S ‘TARGETED BECAUSE OF WHO HIS DAD IS’
The president argued in a statement that Hunter was "singled out only because he is my son" and that there was an effort to "break Hunter" in order to "break me."
President Biden and son Hunter Biden step out of a bookstore in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Nov. 29. The president issued a pardon for his son just days later on Dec. 1. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Reporters grilled White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre a day after the pardon, asking whether President Biden and his surrogates lied to the American people. Jean-Pierre responded, "One thing the president believes is to always be truthful with the American people," and repeatedly pointed to Biden’s own statement on the matter.
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The judge in Hunter's case rebuked Biden for the pardon and for accusing investigators, prosecutors and himself of political bias.