Who were the most notable individuals pardoned by Joe Biden and why?

1. High-volume commutations reshaped Biden’s clemency footprint

In January 2025 the White House published a list stating President Biden commuted the sentences of 2,490 individuals — a single large action that dramatically expanded his record of commutations and formed the backbone of his clemency legacy ^[1]. Analyses noted Biden’s embrace of mass relief for prisoners serving sentences that today’s guidelines would likely shorten; advocates and some legal commentators framed it as correction of sentencing disparities, particularly those tied to historic drug laws ^{[6] [5]}.

2. Class pardons for marijuana convictions — policy plus politics

Biden used proclamations in 2022 and again in December 2023 to pardon people convicted of certain federal marijuana offenses, an approach the Justice Department and commentators treated as a class-based use of clemency rather than individualized pardons ^[5]. Pew’s review placed those proclamations in the context of Biden’s broader criminal-justice agenda and shows how class pardons can affect thousands without individual DOJ review ^[5].

3. Hunter Biden’s pardon: the most politically incendiary single act

On Dec. 1, 2024 Biden signed a pardon for his son, R. Hunter Biden, explicitly covering “any potential federal crimes ... from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024,” and accompanied the act with a White House statement defending it as correcting “selective and unfair” prosecution ^[2]. That clemency reversed a public pledge he had repeatedly made to avoid intervening in Justice Department matters and became a focal point for critics who argued it breached his earlier promise that “no one is above the law” ^{[2] [7]}.

4. Final-minute preemptive pardons for family, allies and officials

In his final minutes in office Biden issued preemptive pardons for several relatives — including brothers James and Francis Biden, and sister Valerie Biden Owens — citing concerns they could face “baseless and politically motivated investigations” ^{[3] [4]}. He also preemptively pardoned high-profile government figures such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House Jan. 6 select committee, moves framed by Biden allies as shielding targets of potential reprisals and by critics as unprecedented politicized clemency ^{[3] [4]}.

5. Record-setting counts and competing interpretations

Pew Research counted 4,245 acts of clemency across Biden’s four-year tenure, more than prior presidents on record, and outlets noted he set records for commutations and other clemency measures; yet he issued relatively few individualized pardons earlier in his term and then concentrated major, contentious pardons near the exit ^{[5] [6]}. Supporters present Biden’s clemency as corrective justice and protection against retaliatory prosecutions; opponents call the preemptive pardons politically driven and unprecedented — especially when family members are involved ^{[6] [3] [4]}.

6. Legal and political fallout: investigations and claims about process

Afterward, Republican-led probes questioned whether some actions were properly authorized; later reporting and committee activity raised issues about signature processes (autopen) and presidential capacity, with some GOP investigators deeming certain pardons “void” and calling for DOJ review — a contested claim in the political theater around the decisions ^{[8] [9]}. Available sources do not provide a final judicial ruling that nullified any specific Biden pardon; they report investigations, assertions and political conclusions ^{[8] [9]}.

7. Why these pardons matter going forward

Biden’s mix of mass commutations, class marijuana pardons and high-profile preemptive pardons for family and allies reshapes norms about exit clemency and fuels debate about fairness, precedent and presidential motive. Legal scholars highlighted historical analogues (Ford’s Nixon pardon, Carter’s draft-dodger pardon) but noted Biden’s combination of protecting relatives and political allies is unusually broad and likely to animate litigation and congressional oversight for years ^{[10] [4]}.

Limitations and sources: This summary draws solely on the provided reporting and government releases; claims about motivations, judicial outcomes or later legal invalidations are limited to what these sources report. All factual assertions are cited to specific documents above ^{[2] [1] [5] [6] [3] [4] [8] [9] [10]}.