Notwithstanding his denials, most of us expected Joe Biden to do something for his son Hunter on the way out the door. Andy McCarthy has warned for months that Joe would pardon Hunter; I thought the only question was whether he might just commute his sentences for his tax and gun convictions to spare him prison time, and then claim that he technically kept his promise not to pardon him entirely. Andy was right that Joe would go all the way on this one.
One of the interesting questions is: Why now? Presidents on their way out of office typically pick one of two times to hand out controversial pardons: either on or immediately around Christmas, when Congress and the press are all home with their families and in a lenient mood, or right on the eve of vacating the office. Biden instead dropped this news right at the end of a long weekend at the start of December, timing guaranteed to ensure that it will dominate the news for this week.
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