This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. Publicly, Joe Biden never wavered. Privately, those close to him believed that the President would eventually intervene and end the federal prosecutions against his son. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Sunday evening’s surprise announcement of a sweeping pardon for Hunter Biden sent Washington ablaze with outrage.