A Republican U.S. Senator is urging President-Elect Donald Trump not to pardon Hunter Biden. 

The senator, according to Fox News, is U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI).

This comes after Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, pleaded guilty to federal tax charges. He did so in September 2024.

The question that many are currently asking is whether President Biden will pardon his son, and some are suggesting that, if he does not, then Trump should. But, Johnson disagrees.

The latest from the White House

In recent months, the Biden White House has insisted that President Biden will not pardon his son before exiting the Oval Office in January.

The Hill reports:

The White House said Thursday there are still no plans for President Biden to pardon his son, Hunter, before leaving office, in the wake of President-elect Trump’s victory. “Our answer stands, which is no,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. Asked about the possibility of a commutation, Jean-Pierre said, “That’s not what we’re going to do.”

If the White House is sincere about all of this, then it would appear that Hunter Biden's best hope for a pardon would actually be Trump, the incoming president. Many have argued that this would be a good thing for Trump to do for several reasons, including to help bring the country together.

Trump has weighed in on the situation. The Washington Examiner reports:

Trump himself told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in October that he would not take a pardon or commuted sentence for the younger Biden "off the books."

Still, many are not really sure what Trump plans to do, if anything.

Johnson weighs in

During a recent interview on NewsNation's "Dan Abrams Live" Sen. Johnson argued that Trump ought not to pardon Hunter Biden.

"I don't think he should pardon Hunter. I think we need to be very careful about having a dual system of justice where the powerful, or the sons and daughters of the powerful, get off scot-free," he said.

Johnson, of course, is working off of the premise that Hunter Biden is actually guilty of crimes, which is true. The senator, however, is not completely against the idea of Trump helping Biden out.

Johnson went on to say:

I could see possibly commuting the sentence, reducing it, and it wouldn’t surprise me if President Trump would do that. I would not pardon Hunter. I would certainly not. I wouldn’t scream about commuting his sentence or reducing it in some way, shape or form.

We'll have to see what Trump decides to do.