President Joe Biden is set to leave office in January and speculation has ramped up about whether and for whom he might issue last-minute pardons or sentence commutations before exiting the White House.

Biden's White House has not given any indication of who might receive executive clemency, but it isn't difficult to compile a list of potential recipients who might be quietly under consideration over the next two months, according to the Washington Examiner.

That list would include members of Biden's family; allies who went hard against his rival predecessor and successor, President-elect Donald Trump, if not Trump himself; journalists unfairly prosecuted by Biden's DOJ; and inmates convicted of purportedly nonviolent crimes who are members of favored demographic groups for progressives, among others.

Hunter Biden, obviously

At the top of President Biden's potential pardon list would undoubtedly be his son, Hunter Biden, despite the repeated insistence from Biden and his White House that he would not intervene in his son's criminal issues.

Hunter was convicted of a trio of federal felony gun crimes in June and later pleaded guilty in September to nine federal tax law violations, and is due to face sentencing for those thoroughly investigated and proven illegalities in December.

Though Biden and the White House have repeatedly said Hunter won't receive a pardon or commutation, the outgoing lame-duck president has nothing left to lose politically by backtracking on the issue, and may also want to protect his son from future prosecutions for other alleged crimes in addition to sparing him from punishment for his admitted crimes.

Biden could preemptively pardon Trump's "perceived enemies"

Next on Biden's list would likely be preemptive pardons of some of the "perceived enemies" of President-elect Trump who some Democrats fear could face retribution in the form of politically motivated investigations and prosecutions.

That could include anti-Trump prosecutors like Special Counsel Jack Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg; judges like Juan Merchan and Arthur Engoron; retired military leaders and advisers like Gens. Mark Milley and John Kelly; and hardcore anti-Trump politicians like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA), and former Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), among others like Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Given that some Republicans are clamoring for vengeance against those who are perceived as having previously harmed Trump, some Democrats have become equally outspoken in calling for Biden to offer those potential targets a sort of blanket protection before he leaves office.

Biden could pardon Julian Assange

Another possible candidate for a last-minute Biden pardon would be Wikileaks founder and publisher Julian Assange, who pleaded guilty to Espionage Act violations earlier this year in a deal to end the years-long prosecution and avoid a potential prison sentence of up to 175 years in prison for receiving and publishing leaked classified information.

There has been an outcry against that deal by some Democrats, Republicans, and journalists for the dangerous precedent it sets to go after other media figures who receive and report on leaked information from whistleblowers and the chilling effect that would have on First Amendment rights.

In a bipartisan letter from Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and James McGovern (D-MA), Biden was urged to "consider issuing a pardon for Mr. Assange," as doing so "would remove the precedent set by the plea and send a clear message that the U.S. government under your leadership will not target or investigate journalists and media outlets simply for doing their jobs."

Biden could pardon Trump

One final and likely surprising possibility for a President Biden pardon would be his successor, President-elect Donald Trump, in what would probably be widely heralded as a "final act of statesmanship" to help bring together a clearly divided nation.

To be sure, the several prosecutions against Trump have been delayed or dismissed ahead of his second term as president, but without a pardon -- whether from Biden or Trump himself -- those legal issues could potentially be resurrected in four years when he leaves the White House again, which would unfairly cloud and hamper his administration and cause further national division.