Biden's pardon for son angers rivals and allies

This photo shows U.S. President Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden stepping out of a bookstore while shopping in Nantucket, Massachusetts on Nov. 29, 2024.

Joe Biden's pardon of his son Hunter has antagonized both sides of the U.S. political divide, with Republicans crying hypocrisy and Democrats warning it undermines efforts to rein in Donald Trump.

Biden's announcement shocked Washington, after he entered the White House in 2021 vowing to restore the "integrity" of a justice system that Democrats said had been corrupted by Trump — and because he had specifically vowed not to reprieve his son.

The president instead issued a "full and unconditional" pardon on Sunday, absolving 54-year-old Hunter Biden of any wrongdoing over the last decade, charged or otherwise, just ahead of his looming sentencing over gun and tax convictions.

Biden argued that his son had been targeted in a politicized prosecution launched under the Trump administration and that "there's no reason to believe it will stop here."

But the backlash from his own side was swift.

"I know that there was a real strong sentiment and wanting to protect Hunter Biden from unfair prosecution," Glenn Ivey, a Democratic congressman in Maryland and an attorney, told CNN.

"But this is going to be used against us when we're fighting the misuses that are coming from the Trump administration."

While politicians typically pay lip service to the importance of independent law enforcement, Democrats and Republicans offer different justifications for suspicion of the Justice Department and presidents of both stripes have protected allies.

Trump wielded the pardon power liberally in favor of convicts with whom he had personal relationships, including his daughter...