CHARGES FILED: The move from the president’s son comes as part of a plea deal, as the House GOP intensifies its own probes of the Biden family. https://t.co/jiErHieInm pic.twitter.com/zCm9dkfQvI
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 20, 2023
U.S.A. — ANALYSIS: Published reports say Hunter Biden has “reached a tentative deal” with a federal prosecutor in Delaware “to plead guilty to two federal crimes of willfully failing to pay federal income tax, a court filing Tuesday revealed,” according to CNBC, which also revealed a more important revelation where the gun rights community is concerned.
Hunter Biden has reportedly also “agreed to enter a so-called pretrial diversion agreement in connection with a charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is a user or addict of illegal drugs, according to the filing in U.S. District Court in Delaware,” the CNBC report said.
By entering a “diversion agreement” on the gun law violation, Hunter Biden may be removing a subject that would almost certainly become a campaign liability while his father is running for re-election. Then, again, it could merely add fuel to the contention among many gun owners and conservatives that there are two tiers of justice.
The younger Biden’s gun-related troubles have long been a source of frustration and fury among law-abiding gun owners, but so far, it is only MSN which notes up front the announcement has “implications for President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign and dealings with congressional Republicans.”
The CNBC report notes this about the gun problem: “Typically, such agreements call for the related criminal charge to be dismissed if a defendant complies with the conditions of the deal for a set period of time.”
CBS News is reporting that an unidentified source “with knowledge of the agreement” says the deal requires Hunter Biden to “remain drug-free and can’t commit additional crimes” for two years.
The report also notes, “If Hunter Biden fulfills this successfully, the gun count would be dismissed. This does not amount to a guilty plea.” Does that translate to Hunter Biden not losing his gun rights?
There is another, more important question alluded to in an NBC News piece which almost amounts to a defense of the president against a Republican probe led by Rep James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, looking into allegations regarding “Biden family activities in Romania.” Comer released a memo in May that stated, “The Bidens intentionally sought to hide, confuse, and conceal their influence peddling schemes, but bank records don’t lie. The Bidens made millions from foreign nationals providing what seems to be no services other than access and influence. From the thousands of records we’ve obtained so far, we know the Biden family set up over a dozen companies when Joe Biden was vice president. The Bidens engaged in many intentionally complicated financial transactions to hide these payments and avoid scrutiny. In at least one instance, the Bidens’ CCP-linked associates took steps to conceal the source of the payment to the Bidens.”
Comer is promising his committee’s probe of the Bidens will continue.
A plea deal by Hunter Biden might clear up some of his own problems, but it might also serve as a well-timed distraction.
NBC’s Katherine Doyle noted in her report, “Comer has suggested that (Joe) Biden may have been improperly influenced by his family’s overseas business ties while serving as vice president. But despite teasing a paper trail for months, the Kentucky Republican has yet to reveal any payments made to Biden directly, before or after leaving the Obama White House.”
What about the gun charge? Lying on a Federal Form 4473 is a felony that can land people in prison and subject them to a costly fine.
CNBC is reporting that Chris Clark, Hunter Biden’s criminal defense attorney, said in a statement, “A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.”
It makes for interesting political theater, considering Joe Biden’s ongoing gun control crusade. According to MassLive, the president wants Congress “to act after Juneteenth celebrations this year became marked by mass shootings around the country, leaving at least six people dead and at least 22 injured.”
In Connecticut last Friday, Biden spoke about gun control to the National Safer Communities Summit in West Hartford, where he ended his remarks by inexplicably blurting, “God save the Queen, man!” Later, the White House asserted he was addressing someone in the audience.
Biden has been trying to ban so-called “assault weapons” for years, and two years ago he acknowledged during a televised CNN Townhall program that he also wants to stop the sale of 9mm pistols.
Those remarks were captured and have become the centerpiece of an advertising campaign by the Second Amendment Foundation which is now in its 20th week of the year. The 60-second message opens with Biden’s remarks, and according to SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, it has been seen by millions of Americans. This week, the ad is running on 17 national networks and will air a total of 112 times.
In a statement, Gottlieb noted, “We’re known as the only group using national TV messaging to educate American citizens about their Second Amendment rights.”
“Joe Biden’s agenda isn’t about protecting the public. It’s about disarming the public and leaving honest citizens increasingly vulnerable to violent criminals who continue to plunder our cities and neighborhoods because of the administration’s soft-on-crime philosophy,” he said.
Such rhetoric wouldn’t square with the fact a candidate’s son has a gun law violation hanging over his head, so taking this off the table now could eliminate that embarrassing issue on the 2024 campaign trail.
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
