President Joe Biden is the latest chief executive to save most of his acts of clemency until near the end of his time in the White House.
Biden announced Dec. 12 that he would grant pardons to 39 people and commute the sentences of 1,499 others. Taken together, the actions represent “the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history,” according to the White House.
Before the announcement, Biden had granted clemency to only 161 people – including a controversial recent pardon of his son Hunter, who had been convicted of federal tax and gun crimes. In other words, Biden granted clemency to nearly 10 times as many people on Dec. 12 as he had in the nearly four years prior.
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