Pardoning Hunter Biden Was The Right Thing Done the Wrong Way

President Joe Biden's decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, less than two weeks before his sentencing was, in my view, the right thing to do. It was an act of compassion and a practical solution to a legal case that had become hopelessly entangled in partisan politics.

But while the pardon itself may have been justified, the president's repeated and unequivocal denials that he would ever consider such a move were deeply damaging. It was obvious to anyone following the situation closely that he would eventually issue the pardon. By refusing to admit the possibility beforehand, Biden contributed to the pervasive erosion of trust in politics and...