(UPDATE) WASHINGTON, D.C. — United States President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter on Sunday night, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for his family's benefit.

The Democratic president previously said he would not pardon Hunter or commute his sentence after convictions in the latter's two cases in Delaware and California. The move comes weeks before Hunter was to receive his punishment after he was convicted in the gun case and plead guilty to the tax charges, and less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.