President Joe Biden just made history — the bad kind — with Sunday night’s sweeping Thanksgiving-weekend pardon of his own son, Hunter Biden. (Talk about trying to bury a story.) The outgoing president made this all way harder than it needed to be on himself, his son, and the justice system.

President Joe Biden and his family discussed whether to pardon Hunter Biden during their time together in Nantucket for Thanksgiving, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News Monday.

U.S. President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden after repeatedly pledging not to. Below is a look at the circumstances leading up to the pardon and its legal consequences. WHAT DID THE PARDON COVER?

President Joe Biden has issued a written statement explaining his decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden. Full written statement from President Joe Biden on his decision to pardon his son:

President Joe Biden ’s decision to pardon his son Hunter may have drawn bipartisan criticism, but it doesn’t seem to be causing nearly as much controversy at home. First lady Jill Biden told reporters Monday that she fully supports her husband’s action.

Hunter Biden gave an early signal that he believed he would ultimately be pardoned by President Joe Biden, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek.

Some Democrats fear that Trump will use the pardon to criticize the justice system and bolster his own efforts to remake it.

The pardon comes weeks before President Biden leaves office and transfers power to President-elect Donald J. Trump, who spent years attacking Hunter Biden over his legal and personal issues.

President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter, for any offenses over a nearly 11-year period doesn’t have many, if any, direct historical parallels.

Despite pledging as recently as early November he would not go through with it, President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on the night of Dec. 1. He said he “believe[s] raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.