Hunter Biden Charged with Gun Felony and Tax Offenses, Will Likely Avoid Prison

Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two federal tax offenses and has agreed to a pre-trial diversion program in lieu of being charged with a separate felony of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, which carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

Summary

Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two federal tax offenses and has agreed to a pre-trial diversion program in lieu of being charged with a separate felony of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, which carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

• The federal charges against Biden, 53, stem from an investigation by David Weiss, the Trump-appointed US Attorney for Delaware who began investigating President Joe Biden’s only living son in 2018 during the Trump administration and was retained in his post after Biden was sworn in as president.
• The three charges – two counts of willful failure to pay income tax and the gun charge after making false statements on his background check form claiming he was not on drugs while being an active crack user  – carry maximum penalties of one and ten years in prison, respectively.
• According to court documents, Biden failed to pay more than $100,000 in income tax in both 2017 and 2018 on an income in excess of $1.5 million. The younger Biden reportedly paid off his substantial tax liability in 2020.
• The deal on the gun count would see the charge dismissed if Biden completes a two-year probationary period and complies with all release conditions. The deal must still be approved by a federal judge before it can go into effect.
• House Speaker Kevin McCarthy condemned the deal as a sign of “the two-tier system in America” and vowed that House Republicans would continue to investigate the business dealings of the Biden family. “If you are the president’s leading political opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time. But if you are the president’s son, you get a sweetheart deal,” said McCarthy.
• Hunter Biden is the first son or daughter of a president to be charged with a federal crime. Biden’s attorneys claimed the deal would signal the end of federal investigations into the younger Biden, prompting a statement from US Attorney Weiss that investigations into Biden’s business dealings are “ongoing.”

• Politico reported on the White House’s “relief” over Hunter’s guilty plea. Jonathan Lemire, Eli Stokols and Lauren Egan reported Biden “privately told confidants that he was proud of his son for taking responsibility for his actions” despite insisting publicly that Hunter had “done nothing wrong.”
• According to the Washington Post, Biden allies including longtime Democratic operative David Brock hailed the deal as “justice served” that “just underscores the integrity of President Biden — he kept Trump’s U.S. attorney on to investigate a matter involving his own son.”
• The New York Times covered the continued GOP efforts to investigate Biden and his family over allegations of corruption and contrasted Hunter’s lenient treatment with the indictment of former President Donald Trump. Democrats like Rep. Jamie Raskin, meanwhile, claimed the fact Hunter was even charged proves that the Biden Justice Department is acting in an unbiased manner.

• The Wall Street Journal assessed the political impact of Hunter Biden’s plea deal. The guilty plea will likely fuel GOP messaging that Biden and his family are corrupt. “We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes are revealed,” said Rep. James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, after the guilty plea was announced.
• The editors of National Review condemned Hunter’s “sweetheart deal” that’s “mind-boggling given the Democrats’ anti-firearms theatrics” and the fact that Biden is being allowed to enter “pretrial diversion” instead of being prosecuted for a felony made illegal in a law Joe Biden himself championed in the 1990s.
• Breitbart collected statements from across the right condemning the plea deal. Trump called it a “mere ‘traffic ticket,’” and 2024 GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy tweeted the deal is, “a feigned retreat & reveals they’re even more scared than ever of scrutiny for the real crimes.” Sen. J.D. Vance tweeted, “Any other American would have the book thrown at them. The president’s son gets a slap on the wrist.”

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© Dominic Moore, 2023