It’s one thing for a president to pardon his son. It’s another to do it like this.

President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, on Monday (AEDT) is exceptional not just because of the pardon’s recipient – the closest family member to receive a pardon in history – but also for its sheer breadth, according to experts on presidential pardons.

President Joe Biden accompanied by his son Hunter Biden in Nantucket over the Thanksgiving holiday.Credit: AP

Biden didn’t just pardon his son for his convictions on tax and gun charges, but for any “offences against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024”.

That’s a nearly 11-year period during which any federal crime Hunter Biden might have committed – and there are none we are aware of beyond what has already been adjudicated – can’t be prosecuted. It notably covers when he was appointed to the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma in 2014 all the way through to Sunday, well after the crimes for which he was prosecuted.

Hunter Biden hasn’t been charged for his activities regarding Burisma or anything beyond his convictions, and nothing in the public record suggests criminal charges could be around the bend. Congressional Republicans have probed the Burisma matter and Hunter Biden extensively and could seemingly have uncovered chargeable crimes if they existed, but haven’t done so.

Hunter Biden after pleading guilty to federal tax charges in September.Credit: AP

Even still, the scope of the pardon is remarkable. Experts say there is little to no precedent for a pardon covering such a wide range of activity over such a long period, with the closest being Gerald Ford’s 1974 pardon of Richard Nixon after Nixon resigned........

© WA Today