Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds while he was in Congress, is seeking a pardon from President Joe Biden, citing the president’s decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden.
Jackson Jr. was sentenced to 30 months in prison for spending $750,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses in 2013, while his then-wife Sandi Jackson was sentenced to a year in prison for tax fraud.
Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty to charges he spent the money, along with charges that he conspired to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and make false statements. Sandi Jackson also pleaded guilty.
“I misled the American people. I misled the House of Representatives. I misled the media by filing my reports. I was wrong,” he said during his court hearing.
Following the pardon of Hunter Biden, Rev. Jesse Jackson wrote a letter to the president on behalf of his son, asking for forgiveness and comfort for his son and his family.
"In addition to your pardon consideration for my son and his former wife, I pray that, perhaps, some measure of relief and reform may result from this letter for the benefit of all citizens, and whose elected citizens who go to Washington DC to serve our country," he said in the letter.
In the letter, Rev. Jackson referenced Hunter’s situation, saying “like Hunter, federal investigations begin in one place and always conclude somewhere else” when discussing his so’ns case.
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Jackson Jr. said that even though he finished serving his sentence a decade ago, he still carries the shame of his conviction, something he says millions of other Americans have experienced.
“I was released from prison a decade ago, and I’m still a felon,” he told NBC Chicago Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern. “There are millions of people who after they served their time, they still have an ‘F’ on their forehead.”
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Jackson Jr. pointed to his clean record since his conviction, comparing it to thousands of other Americans who he says could benefit from a second chance.
“I hope that the president looks upon my life, upon the millions of men and women in our city, state and country who haven’t reoffended,” he said. “They aren’t the president’s son, but their lives are equally as important as the president’s son.”
The former Congressmen isn’t alone in his push. Homewood Mayor Richard Hofeld is one of the officials who is supporting Jackson Jr.’s push for a pardon.
“The Congressman paid the price, and the old saying is ‘never judge a man on his worst day,’” he said.
President Biden has until the end of his term in office to issue pardons or commutations, something that presidents historically have done in their final days in the White House.
A president has the constitutional authority to grant pardons for federal crimes. Presidents can also issue commutations of sentences, which lessens the original sentence for a crime.
According to the Justice Department, Biden has granted 25 petitions for pardons during his tenure in the White House. Presidents typically issue more pardons and commutations in the closing days of their presidency than at any other time. President-elect Donald Trump issued 116 pardons in his final months in office in 2017, while former President Barack Obama issued 142 pardons and 1,043 commutations in the final months of his administration.
