ImagePresident Biden, left, and his son Hunter.Credit...Eric Lee/The New York TimesBiden pardoned his son in a sharp reversal

President Biden issued a full and unconditional pardon of his son Hunter on Sunday night after repeatedly insisting he would not do so. He said he made the decision because the tax and gun charges against Hunter were politically motivated.

“I believe in the justice system,” Biden said, “but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”

In pardoning his son, Biden sounded a lot like his successor by complaining about selective prosecution and political pressure, questioning the fairness of a system that Biden had, until now, long defended, Peter Baker writes. It was a remarkable turnaround for a man whose presidency and five-decade career were built in part on the idea that he would never interfere with the administration of justice. Some Democrats expressed their displeasure with the decision, while President-elect Donald Trump condemned it.

The pardon, and Biden’s rationale for granting it, will inevitably muddy the political waters as Trump prepares to take office. The incoming president has been open about his plans to use the Justice Department and F.B.I. to pursue “retribution” against his political adversaries. Trump has long argued that the justice system has been “weaponized” against him and that he is the victim of selective prosecution.

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ImageAfter a Russian airstrike in Idlib, northern Syria, yesterday.Credit...Mohammed Al Rifai/EPA, via Shutterstock

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