The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, 1995, Was Pardoned by President J. J. Biden (R-Missing the Laws)

More obnoxious is the hypocrisy. Every year, federal prosecutors file hundreds of cases against persons charged with lying on the Firearms Transaction Record, or Form 4473, which is required from anyone buying a firearm from a licensed gun dealer. In 1993, then-Senator Biden made that form a key part of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. How is it that the same president who made both gun control and stricter tax enforcement key parts of his political message suddenly sees his own son’s transgressions as nuisance offenses?

Hunter was going to be sentenced in both cases later this month, which undoubtedly led to his father taking action. The federal sentencing guidelines said he was probably going to get at least a couple of years in prison. The pardon gave the son a clean record because he had never been charged in the first place. The pardon goes further. It is “not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted” and encompasses the period when the younger Mr. Biden joined the board of Burisma.

Mr. Biden sought to define his presidency in counterpoint to the corruption and indecency of the first Trump years. With the pardon of his son, Mr. Biden added his name to the roll call of presidents who dishonored their office by misusing the pardon power. By changing his plan to issue this pardon, Mr. Biden himself seemed to recognize how wrong it was, and is.

Pardons are the consummate discretionary acts; presidents are never required to issue even a single one, nor are they limited in the number they issue or to whom. In this way, they reveal their roots in the royal prerogative of mercy. Presidents and kings issue pardons because they want to.