Watergate journalist Bob Woodward, who now writes for the Washington Post, predicted that President Joe Biden will pardon his son Hunter Biden before leaving office in January, despite saying repeatedly that he would not do so.

Hunter Biden will be sentenced next month on drug and gun charges, and faces tax charges in an upcoming trial.

Woodward said that research for his forthcoming book "War" revealed that the president's mind is frequently on Hunter Biden's future, and that he has talked about a pardon with close friends.

"He worries about, where is this going to go? He has said he would not pardon him. There are a couple of trials coming up. Quite frankly, I know enough about Biden I don't believe that. I think he will pardon his son," Woodward told The Late Show's Stephen Colbert.

Fears for his son

Biden also has fears his son will relapse into drug use if he is sent to prison, or just from the stress of multiple trials.

Presidents have the ability to pardon or commute the federal prison sentence of anyone they want to, without restriction. It has even been suggested that former President Donald Trump could pardon himself from federal crimes if he is re-elected.

While Bill Clinton was president, he pardoned his brother Roger Clinton for a 1985 drug possession charge for which Roger had served one year in jail.

One drawback of a pardon is that Biden may harm his party's reputation and hurt chances in future elections.

But do we really think people will remember something that long, or care about it as much after some time has passed?

The American people have a relatively short attention span for negative political news or activity--maybe because there is so much of it.

It's understandable

No loving parent wants their child to go to prison, even if they deserve it.

It's likely that Trump would pardon his children if they were ever convicted of a federal crime, and would give as a reason that the charges were unfair.

While those who don't like Biden anyway will be angry that he let his son off the hook for a lot of bad things, others may understand that parental instinct to protect their children from harm.

Trump even said he could possibly pardon Hunter Biden, while noting that the First Son had been a "bad boy."