Following President Joe Biden's decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, for any crimes he has committed or could have committed between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 1, 2024, bettors on political betting platforms are placing wagers on who else the president might offer clemency. 

Gamblers on Kalshi, a peer-to-peer online platform that offers political derivatives, think that the president's eldest sibling, Jim Biden, is set for a pardon. After Biden reneged on his promise to uphold the rule of law and the US Justice Department by not granting Hunter a pardon, the shares for Jim Biden receiving a pardon have surged on Kalshi. 

Gamblers assign Jim Biden a 33% likelihood of obtaining a Biden pardon. The likelihood keeps increasing, rising 13 points within just a day, as many think a DOJ under President-elect Donald Trump might focus on the 75-year-old, whom numerous Republicans accuse of dubious business practices and often referenced his brother to advance his investments. 

Hunter’s pardon arrives only weeks prior to his planned sentencing for firearm and tax offenses. 

Laptop Stays Centered 

Hunter Biden's infamous laptop, which the Justice Department acquired in 2019 after law enforcement seized it from a Delaware computer repair shop owner, showed a strong connection between Hunter and his uncle.

"Hunter, we are cut from the same cloth,” one email read. “You are a fine and yes, a gentle person. Believe it or not, I know you. Sounds corney [sic], but we both deserve to enjoy the moment. Concentrate on the good in our lives and try to step out of all the bulls*** you deal with on a minute to minute basis.”

At that moment, the two Bidens were negotiating a deal in China and other international collaborations for their investments and enterprises based in the US. Republican lawmakers think Jim leveraged his last name to obtain risky loans, a significant number of which he failed to pay back. Jim Biden’s professional activities have included hospitals, insurance firms, and nightclubs. 

A profile article from 2022 featured in The Washington Post characterized Jim Biden as a “political wild card.” 

Apology for Fauci? 

Another well-liked pardon wager on Kalshi and Polymarket, which is a comparable exchange that operates solely with cryptocurrency, is Dr. Anthony Fauci. Wagerers believe that Trump's prosecutors might target the individual who headed the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Certain Republicans argue that Fauci misled Congress by rejecting claims that the US government, through the National Institutes of Health, was financing "gain-of-function" research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where the coronavirus probably started. GOP leaders further claim that Fauci deceived the American public by emphasizing that the COVID-19 vaccines would prevent the spread of transmission. 

Fauci's chances of obtaining legal immunity from President Biden are being traded on Polymarket with implied odds of 14%. That's an increase of 2% in the last 24 hours. 

In a less probable situation, Polymarket is providing odds on the possibility of Diddy receiving a pardon from the president. Diddy, a longtime Democratic supporter and donor, is confronting accusations of racketeering, forced sex trafficking, and transportation for prostitution-related purposes. 

Polymarket wagerers assign Diddy only a 2% chance of regaining his freedom via a presidential move.