The Facts

• The pardon comes weeks before Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced on December 12 for federal gun charges and December 16 for tax evasion charges, which carried a combined maximum sentence of 42 years.US Pres. Joe Biden issued a full and unconditional pardon to his son Hunter on Sunday, covering federal gun and tax convictions as well as potential offenses from January 2014 through December 2024.

• Hunter Biden was convicted in June of illegally buying and possessing a gun while being a drug user, and later pleaded guilty to nine tax offenses related to $1.4 million in unpaid taxes.In a statement, Biden said, "In trying to break Hunter, they've tried to break me - and there's no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough."

• The president's decision contradicts his previous public statements, including his June declaration that he would not pardon his son and would abide by the jury's decision.The White House announced the pardon after Thanksgiving weekend, with Biden stating he made the decision after concluding that raw politics had infected the judicial process and "led to a miscarriage of justice."