The move is an about-face after the president previously vowed not to pardon his son, who was convicted on federal gun and tax charges.

The Biden family discussed the pardon for Hunter Biden during the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

The White House on Monday struggled to defend the pardon claiming the prosecution was politically motivated — a page out of Trump's playbook.

President Biden and the White House have emphatically insisted the president wouldn’t pardon his son, Hunter Biden. But all of that changed Sunday, when Biden announced he would indeed grant leniency on Hunter,

Nearly all pardons target specific allegations or charges, making Hunter Biden’s unusual. The only other precedent was President Gerald Ford’s highly controversial move in which he pardoned “all offenses against the United States” that Nixon “has committed or may have committed” over the course of his presidency.

Biden aides and allies had been resigned to the prospect of the president using his extraordinary power in the waning days of his presidency to ensure his son wouldn’t see time behind bars, especially after Donald Trump’s win.

While delivering remarks to National Guard families, Jill Biden spoke in favor of Hunter Biden's controversial pardon.

President Joe Biden has pardoned his son, Hunter, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family members.

The 82-year-old president said in a statement that his son's prosecution on charges of tax evasion and falsifying a federal weapons purchase form were politically motivated.

Katie Cherkasky said there was an "open legal question" about the wording of President Joe Biden's pardon of his son.

Legal experts said President Joe Biden's pardon of son Hunter was broad and unusual for not specifying the crimes he was being shielded from.