澳门举办全民国家安全教育系列活动

2026年4月16日 07:36 / 联合早报

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澳门特区行政长官岑浩辉4月15日在全民国家安全教育系列活动开幕式上致辞。 （新华社）

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澳门多形式开展全民国家安全教育系列活动，包括国家安全教育展、国家安全题材公益影展等。

据中新社报道，星期三（4月15日）是第十一个全民国家安全教育日。由澳门特区政府与澳门中联办联合举办的全民国家安全教育系列活动，当天在中国与葡语国家商贸合作服务平台综合体开幕。

开幕礼由中国全国政协副主席何厚铧、澳门特区行政长官岑浩辉、澳门中联办主任郑新聪、外交部驻澳门特派员公署特派员卞立新、解放军驻澳部队司令员陈文胜等主礼。特区政府官员和澳门社会各界代表约480人出席开幕式。

岑浩辉在致辞中表示，特区政府将全面贯彻落实“十五五”规划的新任务新要求，务实编制和实施特区“三五”规划，把维护国家安全的实践要求贯穿特区发展规划的各领域全过程，准确践行总体国家安全观，不断完善维护国家安全的法律制度和执行机制，强化各领域安全保障能力和现代化建设，以实际行动筑牢澳门维护国家安全的坚固屏障，以高水平安全为“一国两制”事业行稳致远保驾护航。

郑新聪表示，维护国家安全只有进行时，没有完成时。要以大历史眼光看待澳门统筹发展和安全，以大担当情怀谋划澳门统筹发展和安全，以大战略格局推进澳门统筹发展和安全。希望特区政府团结带领社会各界，深入贯彻落实总体国家安全观，积极履行维护国家主权、安全、发展利益的宪制责任，扎实推进国家安全体系和能力现代化建设，齐心协力建设更高水平平安澳门。

本次系列活动以“统筹发展和安全 护航‘十五五’新征程”为主题，包括全民国家安全教育展、国家安全题材公益影展活动等内容。

开幕式上还举行了“人工智能护国安”主题征文和短视频比赛颁奖礼，并首次增加了文艺表演、三地联动亮灯启动仪式、无人机汇演、机器人导赏等新的内容与形式。

Brian Hooker leaves Bahamas to be with ailing mother as search for wife continues, attorney says

April 15, 2026 / 7:55 PM EDT / CBS News

Amid the ongoing search for his wife, Brian Hooker has left the Bahamas to see his ailing mother, his attorney told CBS News.

Hooker plans to return to the Bahamas as the search for his wife, Lynette Hooker, who disappeared during a nighttime boat ride in the Bahamas, continues, his lawyer, Terrel Butler, said. He did not specify how long he would be with his mother. A family member of Hooker’s mother declined to comment.

Brian Hooker, 59, told authorities that Lynette Hooker, 55, fell from their eight-foot dinghy the evening of Saturday, April 4, while they sailed from Hope Town to Elbow Cay. He said powerful currents swept her away, along with the keys to their boat, which cut power to its engine and prevented him from reaching her.

Police said Brian Hooker paddled to the island of Abacoa, where he docked at the Marsh Harbor Boat Yard around 4 a.m. Sunday, April 5. Police said he told someone that his wife was missing, and that person then informed authorities.

Brian Hooker also told several friends his account of what happened that night via text, and also sent themannotated maps of the area. In the messages, which were reviewed by CBS News, Brian Hooker said that the wind blew him and Lynette Hooker apart. He said she swam towards the sailboat, but the two “lost sight of each other pretty quickly.”

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Brian Hooker, whose wife disappeared while the couple was sailing in the Bahamas, said he “wants to” believe she is still alive. CBS News

Brian Hookerwas arrestedby Bahamian authorities last Wednesday for questioning. He was released Monday and has consistently denied any wrongdoing. The Royal Bahamas Police Forcesaidin a statement Tuesday that prosecutors “recommended that no charges be filed at this time pending the outcome of further investigations.”

After his release, Brian Hooker told CBS News, “I won’t be able to stop looking” for her. He said that “someone with more authority” will have to tell him to stop. Police said last week that search and rescue operations had turned into search and recovery, but Brian Hooker told CBS News, “I want to” believe that she is still alive.

“I believe I’ve been told that people have lasted in the Bahamas after falling overboard for days and even weeks,” he told CBS News on Tuesday.

Karli Aylesworth, Lynette Hooker’s daughter and Brian Hooker’s stepdaughter, has called for “an intensive review of the facts and circumstances” surrounding her mother’s disappearance. According to Aylesworth, Brian and Lynette Hooker had split up and gotten back together in recent years.

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Lynette Hooker Lynette Hooker/Facebook

Aylesworth told CBS News in a statement Wednesday that Brian Hooker leaving the Bahamas “shows he’s not much of a man of his word.”

Aylesworth has said she doesn’t believe Brian Hooker’s version of events, describing her mother as an experienced swimmer with more than a decade of sailing experience.

“My sole concern is to find out what happened to my mother and make sure a full and complete investigation is performed into her disappearance,” Aylesworth previously told CBS News.

The Hookers, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, were known to be avid sailors. Brian Hooker told CBS News the pair had been sailing together for more than 12 years.

Kerry Breen contributed to this report.

Influencer who helped expose Swalwell scandal reacts to new investigations

2026-04-15 6:32 PM EDT / CNN Politics

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Influencer who helped expose Swalwell scandal reacts to new investigations

The Lead

Arielle Fodor joins The Lead to talk about the allegations against former Rep. Eric Swalwell. Swalwell denies the allegations.

1:30 • Source: CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/15/politics/video/swalwell-allegations-investigation-california-lead-tapper

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白宫新闻秘书莱维特星期三在新闻发布会上强调，在白宫正式发布消息之前，一切都不能确定。 （路透社）

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白宫新闻秘书莱维特星期三说，有关美国正式要求延长美伊停火期限的报道不实，目前美伊双方可能再次举行面对面会谈的相关讨论还在进行中。

莱维特星期三（4月15日）在新闻发布会上说，在巴基斯坦斡旋下进行的对话“富有成效且仍在进行中”，“我们对达成协议的前景感到乐观。”

她说，下次会谈地点极有可能仍在巴基斯坦首都伊斯兰堡，巴基斯坦是这场谈判的唯一调解方。

伊朗外交部：美伊是否延长停火无法确认

伊朗外交部发言人巴加埃则说，有关美伊延长停火的相关猜测尚无法确认，需观察美国的外交立场是否具备实际诚意。

巴加埃星期三在德黑兰举行的记者会上说，美国“立场多次变化、表述相互矛盾”，即便达成某种共识，也难以确保会履行。

他称美伊对话是在非常复杂的情况下进行的，目前对话仍通过巴基斯坦作为中间方继续进行。

伊朗将评估是否与美举行下一轮谈判

另据伊朗塔斯尼姆通讯社星期三引述知情人士报道，伊方与巴基斯坦陆军参谋长穆尼尔率领的代表团举行会晤后，将进行必要评估，再决定是否与美国开展下一轮谈判。

知情人士透露，在黎巴嫩实现停火对伊朗参与下一轮谈判会是一个积极信号。与此同时，美国必须坚持合理的谈判框架，不能提出过分要求或违反停火前所作承诺。

星期三较早时，巴基斯坦军方发布声明说，穆尼尔和巴基斯坦内政部长纳克维星期三率领巴代表团抵达伊朗首都德黑兰，继续推进斡旋美伊谈判。

内坦亚胡：以美在伊朗问题上目标完全一致

2026年4月16日 07:23 / 联合早报

以色列总理内坦亚胡星期三说，以军即将占领并摧毁黎巴嫩真主党在黎南部的据点宾特朱拜勒。图为4月8日，这座真主党重镇遭以军空袭后升起浓烟。 （路透社）
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以色列总理内坦亚胡周三说，以色列和美国在遏制伊朗的目标上完全一致。

内坦亚胡星期三（4月15日）发表电视讲话说，美国一直在向以色列通报同伊朗的接触情况，“美国和我们的目标完全一致。”

“我们希望看到伊朗移除浓缩铀。我们希望看到伊朗彻底消除境内的浓缩铀能力。当然，我们也希望看到霍尔木兹海峡重新开放。”

内坦亚胡说，目前断言伊朗局势发展走向和结果为时尚早，战事“可能再度爆发”，以军已做好应对任何情况的准备。

以军即将占领真主党据点

内坦亚胡还说，以军即将占领黎巴嫩真主党在黎南部的据点宾特朱拜勒（Bint Jbeil）。

他说，以军正在持续打击真主党，战斗集中在宾特朱拜勒，以军即将占领并摧毁这座真主党重镇。

内坦亚胡说，他已指示以军继续扩大黎南部的缓冲区，同时与黎巴嫩就和平协议进行谈判。

“这些谈判已经超过40年没有举行了。现在之所以能够举行，是因为我们实力雄厚，而且其他国家——不仅仅是黎巴嫩——都主动向我们寻求合作。”

他重申，以色列与黎巴嫩的谈判有两个主要目标：一是瓦解真主党，二是实现“以实力换取”的可持续和平。

Two Americans sentenced to prison for North Korean tech worker scheme

2026-04-15 21:30:20 UTC / CNN

By Sean Lyngaas

PUBLISHED Apr 15, 2026, 5:30 PM ET

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This photo from the US District Court District of Massachusetts shows North Korean information technology workers on a multi-member team that the US Department of Justice says works with the North Korean government to fund its regime. Note: Parts of the image provided by the US District Court District of Massachusetts have been obscured.

US District Court District of Massachusetts

Two Americans have been sentenced to years in prison for their roles in a covert scheme that defrauded major US companies while generating $5 million for the North Korean regime, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

Zhenxing “Danny” Wang, 39, and Kejia “Tony” Wang, 42, both of New Jersey, were alleged middlemen in an elaborate conspiracy that involved tricking Fortune 500 companies to hire overseas tech workers who stole the identities of various Americans. A federal court in Boston sentenced Zhenxing Wang to over seven years in prison and Kejia Wang to nine years in prison.

At the heart of the scheme were “laptop farms” — or clusters of US company-issued computers — that Wang and Wang allegedly managed from their homes in the US. Those laptops gave the overseas tech workers a foothold into major American companies to draw salaries and in one case steal export-controlled data from a California-based defense contractor.

Other companies who unwittingly paid the overseas tech workers include a semiconductor distributor in Massachusetts and a software development firm in California, according to prosecutors.

North Korea is increasingly turning to such schemes to circumvent sanctions and generate revenue for its nuclear weapons program, according to US officials. In 2024, prosecutors charged an Arizona woman in a similar scheme that compromised the identities of 60 Americans and affected 300 US companies, including a “premier” Silicon Valley tech firm.

The North Korean government has stolen billions of dollars in recent years by hacking cryptocurrency exchanges and using IT workers to infiltrate US tech firms, according to US officials and private experts.

The US government has tried to crack down on the schemes while publicly and privately warning companies across the country of the evolving threat from North Korean IT workers.

There’s still plenty of work to do: The State Department on Wednesday offered up to $5 million for information on several other people allegedly involved in generating revenue for the North Korean regime.

CNN has requested comment from attorneys who represented Wang and Wang. The pair previously pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme.

The two men allegedly set up front companies in New Jersey to falsely claim that the tech workers were authorized to work in the US. Other members of the conspiracy allegedly used background-check firms to identify US persons whose identities they wanted to steal. At least 80 US persons had their identity stolen, according to prosecutors.

Networks of North Korean tech workers “increasingly rely on U.S.-based LLCs to create the appearance of legitimate employment,” said Michael Barnhart, a researcher at insider threat firm DTEX Systems.

“Pairing a US person, a US address, and a front company … the facilitators created the illusion of a legitimate domestic ‘effort’ allowing the IT workers to present themselves as U.S.-based without triggering suspicion during onboarding or daily workflows,” Barnhart told CNN, referring to the scheme connected to Wang and Wang.

“A growing number of staffing and recruiting agencies are unknowingly enabling this activity by vouching for these workers, claiming to have completed background checks and due diligence,” Barnhart said. He also warned that North Korean IT workers have embedded themselves at subcontractors “to reach larger targets” that contract with governments around the world.

“God of chaos” asteroid will pass close to Earth in 3 years, NASA says

April 15, 2026 / 3:43 PM EDT / CBS News

An asteroid the size of three football fields will pass near Earth in three years, giving scientists a rare chance to study a colossal space rock from close range.

Named Apophis — after the ancient Egyptian deity known as the “god of chaos” — the asteroid is expected to zoom past the planet on April 13, 2029, according to NASA. It will come within about 20,000 miles of Earth’s surface, which is closer than many orbiting satellites, the agency said. The highest satellites typically orbit around 22,000 miles above the equator.

Scientists consider Apophis to be “a potentially hazardous asteroid,” but NASA has reassured the public that it will safely clear Earth during its 2029 passage. After years of monitoring, scientists say they’re confident that there’s no risk of Earth impact for at least 100 years.

“There is no danger to Earth, to anyone or anything living on it, or to astronauts or satellites in space,” the agency said. “But the event is an amazing and totally unprecedented opportunity to learn much more about Apophis and similar near-Earth asteroids.”

This screengrab, taken from an animation created by NASA, shows the asteroid Apophis’ close approach with Earth in 2029. NASA

People on the ground in the Eastern Hemisphere will be able to observe the asteroid with their own eyes, weather permitting, according to NASA.

It’s extremely uncommon for an asteroid as large as Apophis to pass as close to Earth. NASA estimates such events happen once every few thousand years on average. If that estimate is correct, then the asteroid’s 2029 flyby will be the first of its kind in history to be closely observed with modern technology.

Although Apophis won’t endanger people on the ground when it passes by, Earth’s gravitational pull during the close encounter could potentially “stretch” and “squeeze” the asteroid, possibly triggering small landslides or other similar movements on its surface, NASA said.

How the asteroid responds will help scientists better understand Apophis and its composition. NASA scientists believe it’s made from leftover cosmic materials from the early solar system that were never part of any planets or moons.

Its mean diameter — a standardized measurement of the distance from one side of the rock to the other — is 1,115 feet, roughly the size of three football fields. The distance between the asteroid’s two farthest points is quite a bit longer, at 1,480 feet or more, NASA said. Its shape is not known, but observations suggest it could look something like a peanut.

Apophis was first discovered on June 19, 2004, by astronomers Roy Tucker, David Tholen and Fabrizio Bernardi at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. Another group of astronomers caught sight of the asteroid again, later that same year, at an observatory in Australia.

Dems ripped for ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’ that could ‘shield’ fraud and abuse in California

2026-04-15 12:50:11 EDT / Fox News

The bill was authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, wife of California Attorney General Rob Bonta

By Elaine Mallon , Peter Pinedo Fox News

Published April 15, 2026 12:50pm EDT

Former Trump campaign deputy communications director Caroline Sunshine discusses independent journalist Nick Shirley’s videos on alleged fraud in California on ‘Fox News @ Night.’

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California Democrats are being ripped over a bill that one state assembly member has dubbed the “Stop Nick Shirley Act,” which he argues would “criminalize” investigative journalism.

The controversial bill, officially titled “Privacy for immigration support services providers,” creates privacy protections for immigration support service providers, employees and volunteers, including hiding their addresses and imposing penalties on those who publish their image on social media. Democratic lawmakers say the legislation is needed to protect people from targeted political violence.

However, critics, including Republican Assembly member Carl DeMaio, argue the bill would actually work to “silence citizen journalists and shield taxpayer-funded organizations from public scrutiny.”

The bill has already passed its earliest stages and currently sits in the California Assembly Judiciary Committee.

JOURNALIST WHO EXPOSED ALLEGED MINNESOTA FRAUD SAYS NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA ARE HIS NEXT TARGETS

Independent journalist Nick Shirley speaks during a roundtable discussion in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8, 2025.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

If the bill is signed into law, the California secretary of state will oversee a program that will conceal from public records the addresses of any person who has provided “designated immigration support services,” including services like health care, legal assistance and case management, if they have been subjected to threats, harassment or violence stemming from their work.

The California secretary of state will assign participants a substitute address, which will be used by local and state agencies, and will be tasked with forwarding mail to program participants’ real address.

The legislation also prohibits private citizens or businesses from posting the image, personal information or home address of any program participant online or on social media if the intent is to threaten the immigration support services worker or incite violence from a third party.

A participant covered under the program could file a complaint in court against a person or organization that posts their image and could be awarded up to $4,000.

CALIFORNIA FRAUD CONCERNS RAMP UP AS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MASSIVE SCHEME USING TAXPAYERS AS HIS ‘PIGGY BANK’

Assembly member Mia Bonta attends a press conference in Hayward, California, March 2, 2026.(Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle)

Violators of the law could face additional criminal penalties, including a $10,000 fine or up to one year in jail.

“This bill will ensure that we have an opportunity, when people are being harassed, doxed, subjected to violence, to be able to have the ability to protect themselves,” the author of the bill, Democratic Assembly member Mia Bonta, the wife of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, said during a legislative session.

Republican lawmakers like DeMaio argue the legislation would have a chilling effect on the work of citizen journalists.

YOUTUBER TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS ON MINNESOTA’S MASSIVE $9B FRAUD NETWORK INVESTIGATION

“AB 2624 would allow activists and taxpayer-funded organizations to demand the removal of video evidence — even if it captures misconduct in plain view — and threatens journalists with massive financial penalties,” DeMaio said in a statement. “That’s not about public safety — it’s about protecting powerful interests.”

The bill’s introduction follows investigations by independent journalists, including Shirley, that exposed alleged fraud schemes in the Democratic-controlled state. In March, Shirley published a video alleging $170 million in fraud was committed by registered hospice care and healthcare companies. Shirley visited various locations of the registered clinics, showing him interacting with the alleged fraudsters.

Since the report went public, Vice President JD Vance, who also serves as the administration fraud czar, announced the federal government has suspended 447 hospices and 23 home health agencies suspected of fraud in Los Angeles. The total fraud estimated in those schemes is more than $600 million.

Nick Shirley and Gov. Gavin Newsom(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

FEDERAL PROSECUTOR CALLS NEWSOM ‘KING OF FRAUD’ AS TRUMP LAUNCHES CALIFORNIA CORRUPTION PROBE

“California Democrats are trying to intimidate citizen watchdog journalists and protect waste and fraud happening in far-Left-wing NGOs,” DeMaio said in a statement.

Shirley said it was “absolutely crazy” that fraud organizations, which may allegedly provide services to immigrants, are able to hide under the letter of the law.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News Digital reached out to Bonta, DeMaio and Shirley for comment.

Shirley accused Democrats of trying to scare away independent journalists from looking into fraud during an appearance on “The Will Cain Show” on Tuesday.

“They’re trying to make it so citizen journalists or just average Americans who are going about seeing what’s happening inside their community — they’re trying to scare them from talking about potential fraud taking place inside of these communities,” Shirley said.

“They’re literally willing to impose a $10,000 fine or imprisonment if you go and seek to find out the truth about a location that could potentially be fraudulent inside your own neighborhood.”

Fox News Digital’s Max Bacall contributed to this report.

Elaine Mallon is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business covering national politics.

Tax enforcement weakened after Trump job cuts, IRS data shows

2026-04-15 16:17:44 UTC / Reuters

By Jacob Bogage

April 15, 2026 4:17 PM UTC Updated 4 hours ago

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building is seen in Washington, U.S. September 28, 2020. REUTERS/Erin Scott/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• IRS enforcement revenue fell 5% in 2025 after mass staffing cuts
• DOGE oversaw IRS staffing reductions
• Experts warn IRS cuts shift audits to low-income taxpayers, harm high-end compliance

WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) – The Trump administration dramatically reduced efforts to pursue tax cheats in 2025, ​government data shows, shedding tens of thousands of employees at the Internal Revenue Service, including those charged with ‌enforcement.

The result was a 5% decline in revenue collected through enforcement actions, or almost $5 billion, in the fiscal year, according to data obtained by Reuters through the Freedom of Information Act. The agency opened more than 120,000 fewer tax audits, opens new tab in 2025 than in the year prior, the Taxpayer Advocate ​Service, the IRS’ internal watchdog, reported.

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The vast majority of revenue collected through tax enforcement comes from unpaid balances. Audits ​are often years-long processes that do not immediately yield revenue.

Treasury Department officials told Reuters that the ⁠IRS has seen a 12% increase in enforcement revenue in the first five months of the 2026 fiscal year, which began ​October 1.

The Department of Government Efficiency, the now-defunct cost-cutting agency created by President Donald Trump and led by billionaire Elon Musk, oversaw ​mass staffing cuts at the IRS that carved into every aspect of the tax agency.

But the IRS’s enforcement arm lost roughly 5,000 of its employees headed into 2026 and is on track to cut another 5,000 in the coming year, according to the agency’s budget projection.

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Frank Bisignano, the CEO ​of the IRS and Social Security Administration Commissioner, told the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday that the tax agency was reviewing ​the “tax gap,” or the amount of taxes owed but not paid, to see what quantity is “addressable.”

Completely eliminating the tax gap, experts say, would require ‌the IRS ⁠to act far more aggressively than Americans are generally used to.

Bisignano said he would soon return to the committee with “a plan to drive the number down and you’ll have the resources allocated and the technology” to recoup the unpaid sums.

The moves at the IRS essentially wipe out one of the Biden administration’s signature achievements, sending tens of billions of dollars to the agency to increase ​tax scrutiny of major corporations ​and wealthy individuals.

At its height ⁠during the Biden administration, the IRS employed 103,000 people, opens new tab, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. It aims to employ about 69,000 by the 2027 fiscal year, which begins October 1.

Before ​that infusion of cash, the IRS had struggled for years with its finances as Republicans in ​Congress blocked funding ⁠for the agency intended to help it maintain its outdated technology systems and retain high-skilled staff.

That led the IRS to move enforcement away from businesses and wealthy individuals and toward low-income taxpayers whom it costs less to audit, the Taxpayer Advocate Service has reported.

“I think ⁠that the ​agency has suffered potentially irreparable harm because it wasn’t as if we ​were starting off from a system of tax administration that was modernized and set up to pursue compliance on the high end of the income spectrum,” said ​Natasha Sarin, the president and cofounder of the Yale Budget Lab, a financial think tank.

Reporting by Jacob Bogage, Editing by Nick Zieminski

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‘Privileged’ Hunter Biden, spared by dad’s pardon, blasts Trump’s clemency power

April 15, 2026 1:07pm EDT / Fox News

Hunter said he is ‘filled with gratitude to my dad’ while acknowledging he is ‘uniquely situated’

By Ashley J. DiMella Fox News

Former first son Hunter Biden acknowledged he is “completely biased” about the sweeping pardon his father granted him in 2024, renewing attention on former President Joe Biden’s decision to reverse course after publicly ruling out clemency for his son.

“I’m completely biased as it relates to what my dad did for me. I fully understand how uniquely situated I am in being privileged enough to have received a pardon from my father,” Hunter said in an interview published Tuesday by liberal outlet MediasTouch, when asked if there should be reforms made to presidential pardons.

The remarks put fresh attention on Biden’s decision to pardon his son after repeatedly pledging he would not – a reversal that undercut Democrats’ longtime “no one is above the law” message as Hunter Biden faced federal gun and tax charges.

Hunter Biden added that he was not in the position to weigh in on potential presidential pardon reforms following his father’s order, but went on to slam the Trump administration for its pardons since 2025 – including more than 1,000 individuals pardoned from prosecution related to the Jan. 6, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol.

PRESIDENT BIDEN PARDONS HIS SIBLINGS JUST MINUTES BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE

A photo shows U.S. President Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden stepping out of a bookstore while shopping in Nantucket, Massachusetts on Nov. 29, 2024.(Mandel Ngan/AFP)

Biden reversed course in the final months of his presidency, and issued a sweeping pardon to his son. Hunter Biden was pardoned for any offense he “has committed or may have committed” from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.

Hunter Biden said that he was “filled with gratitude” to his dad when discussing the pardon.

In September 2024, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges in California for a scheme evading over $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019. He was also convicted in Delaware in June 2024 for lying on a federal form about his drug use to purchase a firearm in 2018.

Hunter Biden also pointed fingers at the current first family in the interview, saying, “I don’t think that the founders ever imagined Donald Trump. I don’t think they ever imagined the Trump family.”

DAVID AXELROD QUESTIONS BIDEN’S MASCULINITY AFTER LAST-SECOND FAMILY PARDONS: ‘MAN UP’

“I don’t think people understand is that, in the first year, I think—I don’t know the exact number—I think my dad gave 80 or so pardons over a four-year period of time. I think that that’s about the number,” said Hunter Biden.

He added, “Donald Trump has given over 1,500 pardons in the first year alone. But I’m obviously—I’m not the one to be, I don’t think, fairly or unbiasedly talking about the presidential pardon vote.”

Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, arrives at the federal court on the opening day of his trial on criminal gun charges in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., June 3, 2024.(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Trump did not pardon any of his children during his first administration. He did pardon the father of his son-in-law, Charles Kushner, in December 2020. Charles Kushner had served over a year in federal prison for tax evasion, witness retaliation, and campaign finance violations.

“President Trump has exercised his constitutional authority to issue pardons and commutations for a variety of individuals, including those who have been victims of Biden’s weaponized justice system,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

“And the only pardons anyone should be critical of are from President Autopen, who pardoned and commuted sentences of violent criminals including child killers and mass murderers – and that’s not to mention the proactive pardons he ‘signed’ for his family members like Hunter on his way out the door.”

Biden issued pardons to his son, Hunter, brother James, sister-in-law Sara, sister Valerie, and brother Francis before leaving office.(Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)

Biden also issued pardons to his brother James, sister-in-law Sara, sister Valerie, and brother Francis, defending the move as protection from attacks and threats from Trump.

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Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.