Since Hunter Biden was convicted of gun and tax crimes over the summer, the White House has insisted that President Joe Biden had no intention of pardoning his son.

But on Sunday the president issued a controversial sweeping pardon, saying his son had faced attacks from his political rivals.

Republicans quickly condemned the move, pointing to Biden’s previous pledges not to intervene on Hunter’s behalf. The move has also put a renewed spotlight on the role of presidential pardons and the independence of the U.S. judicial system.

President-elect Donald Trump called the intervention an “abuse,” while House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer accused President Biden of trying to “evade accountability.”

Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in two separate trials over the summer – one on federal tax charges and another for lying about his drug use on a form when purchasing a handgun.

After his conviction, the White House immediately made it clear that he could not expect a presidential pardon from his father.

In an interview with ABC in June, when asked if he had “ruled out” pardoning his son, Biden replied: “Yes.”

Biden also told reporters at a G7 summit in June: “I said I would abide by the jury’s decision, and I will do that. And I won’t pardon him.”

As recently as November 7 – just two days after Donald Trump’s return to the White House – Biden administration officials were still insisting that the president had no intention of pardoning his son.

Asked in a news conference whether President Biden would be tempted to help Hunter, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “We’ve been asked this question several times, our answer is no.”

Biden also stressed in June that he was “satisfied” that his son received a fair trial, in contrast to his comments on Sunday when he said Hunter had been the subject of a “miscarriage of justice.”

Presidential pardons are not uncommon, and there have been examples of previous presidents pardoning family members.

In January 2001 – shortly before he left office – Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother for 1985 drug trafficking convictions.

And Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner – the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner – in December 2020 for making false statements during an investigation, witness tampering and tax evasion.

Over the weekend, President-elect named Charles Kushner as his nominee for U.S. ambassador to France, a move that caused a stir in Paris.

Biden’s pardon covers all crimes his son committed over a nearly 11-year period from January 1, 2014 to December 1, 2024.

Hunter was not scheduled to be sentenced until later this month. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, it is “highly unusual” for a president to pardon someone before they are charged, convicted or sentenced for a federal crime – although there have been some notable exceptions.

No president has ever pardoned his son, and the length of the pardon granted by Biden has raised questions.

Biden has openly attacked some of the pardons issued by his predecessor during his first term.

In 2019, Biden attacked Trump for pardoning two U.S. Army officers for war crimes in Afghanistan – one of whom had been convicted and the other of whom was due to stand trial.

Biden said the then-president betrayed “the rule of law, the values ​​that make our country exceptional and the men and women who wear the uniform with honor.”

Later, in 2020, when Trump commuted the sentence of his informal adviser Roger Stone, Biden called his rival “the most corrupt president in modern American history.”

More broadly, during his 2020 campaign, Biden accused Trump of undermining the office of attorney general and politicizing the office.

“The attorney general is not the president’s lawyer. He is the people’s advocate,” Biden said. “We have never seen anything like the prostitution of this office that we see today.”