The White House claims that President Joe Biden will not pardon his son, Hunter Biden, following Hunter's latest indictment. 

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, according to Fox News, said as much during Friday's press briefing.

During the briefing, Jean-Pierre was asked point-blank, by reporters, whether the president would pardon his son.

Jean-Pierre insisted that the answer is "No, the president will not."

The president "loves" and "supports" his son

This is not the first indictment of Hunter Biden, meaning that this is not the first time that the White House has faced the question of whether or not the president would pardon his son.

Previously, the White House indicated that Biden would not. And, according to Jean-Pierre, this is "still the case," despite Hunter's latest indictment.

"Nothing has changed. That is still the case," Jean-Pierre said. "I mean, the president has said this before, and he will continue to say, which is that he loves his son and supports him as he continues to rebuild his life."

Jean-Pierre refused to go much further on this subject.

She said:

I'm going to be really careful to not comment on this and refer to Department of Justice or my colleagues at the White House counsel. But, that's what I'm going to – I'm not going to go beyond telling you all what the president has said over and over again. He's proud of his son, and he is building his life back.

Background

The breaking news story on Thursday was that Hunter Biden was indicted in California on criminal tax charges.

Fox News separately reported: "The indictment Hunter Biden's failure to pay nearly $200,000 of income tax in the year 2019."

Many, however, are skeptical about the indictment given its timing. It came just before Hunter Biden was scheduled to provide testimony to the House committee that has been investigating the Biden family business.

Hunter Biden and his attorney, Abbe Lowell, had been vigorously fighting to prevent Hunter Biden from having to testify privately before the committee, and there were many doubts about whether Biden would comply with the committee's subpoena. But, now, there is a good chance that Hunter Biden and Lowell will try to use this indictment to avoid providing testimony.

The 53-year-old Hunter Biden could face as many as 17 years in prison for the tax charges that he is now facing, which include three felonies and six misdemeanors. This is all separate from the criminal charges that Hunter Biden is facing in Delaware.