National
Review Online
Wednesday,
June 21, 2021
Hunter
Biden, the ne’er-do-well and perpetually scandal-ridden son of President Joe
Biden, has reached a deal with the Justice Department.
According
to court documents filed Tuesday, Biden will plead guilty to two
misdemeanor charges of willful failure to pay income taxes which, after years
of dithering, the Biden Justice Department is accepting in lieu of felony
tax-evasion charges that would have carried potential five-year terms of
incarceration. This will allow him to be sentenced to probation.
More
mind-boggling given the Democrats’ anti-firearms theatrics, Biden is being
allowed to enter “pretrial diversion” (essentially a counseling program) in
lieu of being prosecuted for possession of a handgun by a user of illegal
narcotics. That’s a federal felony, carrying a potential ten-year prison
sentence, based on a statute that was shepherded through Congress by none other
than then-senator Joe Biden during the Clinton administration. Hunter is not the
typical “lied and tried” suspect; because of his lie on a federal firearms
form, he succeeded in obtaining the gun, is on video later waving it around
while cavorting with an “escort,” and finally lost it near a school.
Mind
you, Hunter Biden dodged his taxes after raking in millions of dollars trading
on his father’s political influence in shady business deals with operatives of
corrupt and anti-American regimes. While it is fashionable to speak of
Hunter as the president’s troubled child, it is worth remembering that he is
now 53 years old, he was in his late 40s when the conduct in question occurred,
and we are led to believe that this “troubled child” was paid these
millions of dollars because he is a seasoned businessman.
Justice
Department plea guidelines call for the government to seek a guilty plea to the most serious
readily provable offense. It’s outrageous that this isn’t happening on either
the tax crimes or gun offense.
The
Hunter Biden deal is another instance of the transparently preferential
treatment offered by America’s justice system to prominent, connected, or
expensively represented people. Less famous or well-positioned defendants, who
are not offered monetary damages and zero jail time on tax fraud and felony
handgun possession, may justly wonder at the curious luck of such a notoriously
public drug addict.
The
temptation to compare the light sentence Hunter Biden has received to the
serious legal jeopardy Donald Trump currently faces in his federal indictment
is inevitable. It’s worth remembering, though, if Trump had followed the advice
of his lawyers, and simply returned all his illicit classified material, he
wouldn’t have faced charges in the first place.
Of
course, the Hunter Biden story does not end here. His alarming and highly
lucrative influence-peddling with foreign interests is a far more serious
matter than the tax-evasion and gun-possession matters. Last month, the House
Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, released a report detailing how the
president’s family members and their associates raked in over $10 million from
foreign nationals and their related companies since Biden’s days as vice
president. Senator Chuck Grassley has said that the FBI is withholding a
document where a source is cited as saying that a separate party not only
bribed both Bidens, but also audiotaped himself doing so. This could of course
be an impeachable offense if the underlying allegation were true.
While it
is important for Republicans to avoid getting over their skis until more facts
are known, it is clear that Hunter Biden’s business dealings with shady foreign
nationals warrant more investigation. David C. Weiss, U.S. attorney for the
District of Delaware, indicated in a press release announcing the
plea deal that “the investigation is ongoing.” Hopefully, he means it, but
anyone who has paid attention the last few years can be forgiven for having
serious doubts.
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