US President Joe Biden has issued an official pardon for his son Hunter, who is facing sentencing for two criminal cases, despite assurances that he would not intervene in his legal troubles.
"No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son - and that is wrong," the president said in a statement, calling it "a miscarriage of justice."
US President-elect Donald Trump criticised the President's move in a post on his TruthSocial site.
"Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!" he said, referring to those convicted for storming the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, after Mr Trump claimed falsely that he had won the 2020 election.
"Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family's corrupt influence peddling activities," said Representative James Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
The grant of clemency said Biden had granted "a full and unconditional" pardon to Hunter for any offenses in a window from 1 January 2014, to 1 December 2024.
The move is sure to bring about fresh scrutiny over the independence of the US judicial system - especially at a time when president-elect Mr Trump has moved to appoint loyalists to the FBI and Justice Department himself.
The younger Biden was convicted earlier this year of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun - a felony - and has also pleaded guilty in a separate tax evasion trial, but had not faced sentencing.
He was scheduled for sentencing in that case on 16 December.
"I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport," Hunter said in a statement yesterday adding he had remained sober for more than five years.
"In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages...I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering."
Mr Biden had repeatedly said he would not pardon his son.
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"I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department's decision-making, and I kept my word even as I watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted," President Biden said in his statement.
"The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election," he added.
"I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice," he added.
Mr Biden said he had made his decision to pardon over the weekend.
The president, his wife, Jill Biden, and their family including Hunter, spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and returned to Washington on Saturday night.
"Here's the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice - and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further," he said.
"I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision."
At the same time, criminal cases against Mr Trump have come to a standstill after a sweeping ruling on presidential immunity by the Supreme Court - all but ensuring Mr Biden's Republican rival will likely never see a jail cell, even after his landmark conviction for falsifying business records in May.
Plea deal gone awry
US presidents have previously used pardons to help family members and other political allies.
Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother for old cocaine charges and Mr Trump pardoned the father of his son-in-law for tax evasion, though in both cases those men had already served their prison terms.
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in a tax evasion trial in September, facing up to 17 years in prison. For the separate gun charge, he was facing 25 years in prison.
His lawyers have said he was only being brought before the court because he is the son of the president.
Hunter Biden has paid the back taxes, as well as penalties levied by authorities, and previously reached a plea deal that would have kept him out of jail - but that agreement fell apart at the last minute.
His case has long been a thorn in the Biden family's side, particularly during this election year when Republicans have charged that Hunter Biden was being treated too leniently.
President Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race in favour of Vice President Kamala Harris took much of the zeal out of the Republican drive to make an example out of his son.
Still, prosecutors appeared unwilling to cut him any slack, rejecting a so-called "Alford plea," whereby Hunter Biden would admit guilt because of the high probability of conviction but would maintain his innocence.
