Family values Is Biden's pardon an act of love or just hypocrisy?

Joe Biden's announcement last Sunday that he had pardoned his son Hunter, who was facing sentencing in two criminal cases, is likely to have been the product of a Shakespearean struggle between head and heart.

- David Smith

On the one hand, Biden is one of the last great institutionalists in Washington. "From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department's decision-making," he said on Sunday.

On the other hand, Biden is nothing without family. As a senator, he once took a train from Washington to Wilmington, Delaware, so he could see his eighty-year-old daughter, Ashley, blow out the candles on her birthday cake at the station, then cross the platform and take the next train back to work.

Hunter was convicted this summer of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun. Joe Biden ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters: "I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him." Hunter also pleaded guilty in a separate tax evasion trial and was due to be sentenced in both cases later this month.