Nearly all pardons target specific allegations or charges, making Hunter Biden’s unusual. The only other precedent was President Gerald Ford’s highly controversial move in which he pardoned “all offenses against the United States” that Nixon “has committed or may have committed” over the course of his presidency.

The “full and unconditional” pardon is aimed at protecting the president’s son from future prosecution by the Trump Justice Department.

It would be easy to ascribe Biden’s sudden reversal on Hunter to the fact that Trump’s second election set fire to whatever hallowed protocols used to govern how politicians behaved. The Republican president-elect has been unambiguous about his plans to dole out clemency based on personal loyalty,