President Joe Biden reportedly believes Hunter Biden is a victim of the weaponization of justice following his gun conviction on Tuesday.
A Delaware jury found Hunter guilty of all three gun charges. He faces up to 25 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.
The octogenarian pledged last week in France he would not pardon Hunter. He has not, however, spoken about whether he would deliver a commutation.
The president feels guilty over Hunter’s legal predicament, two people not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations about Hunter told Politico. They also told the outlet Joe Biden believes he contributed to Hunter’s plight.
President Joe Biden kisses his grandchild as he arrives Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Del., Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“If I weren’t running for reelection, he would have gotten the plea deal,” Biden told a confidant earlier this month, a person familiar with the conversation told Politico.
Hunter refused to accept a gun-related plea deal from the government in 2023. The offer of the gun plea deal came after his “sweetheart” plea deal blew up under judicial scrutiny, which the judge characterized as “atypical” and “not straightforward.”
Legal experts suggest the government’s proposal was a show of favoritism towards the president’s son.
The “sweetheart” deal came with a special agreement that gave Hunter immunity from all potential future charges, including a provision to potentially wipe a felony gun violation from his record.
The deal gave Hunter the option to plead guilty to not paying taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018, receiving probation rather than jail time.
Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, accompanied by his mother, first lady Jill Biden and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, walks out of federal court after hearing the verdict, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Wilmington, Del. Hunter Biden has been convicted of all 3 felony charges in the federal gun trial. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Following the “sweetheart” plea deal debacle, the government offered Hunter a second plea deal related to gun charges that he rejected, opting to go to trial in Delaware. In turn, the government later indicted Hunter in 2023 with tax violations in California.
The tax trial is set for September 2024.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.