{"id":2263191,"date":"2024-06-09T07:14:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-09T11:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-bidens-ironclad-charges-that-almost-never-were\/"},"modified":"2024-06-09T07:17:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-09T11:17:15","slug":"hunter-bidens-ironclad-charges-that-almost-never-were","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-bidens-ironclad-charges-that-almost-never-were\/","title":{"rendered":"Hunter Biden&#8217;s near-miss with definitive charges"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhunter-bidens-ironclad-charges-that-almost-never-were%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2263191&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Of transparency, and ultimately the outcome of the case now rests with  prosecutors and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-was-not-interested-in-proposal-in-fall-of-2022-to-avoid-charges-in-documents-probe-report\/\" title=\"Trump rejected a proposal in late 2022 to evade charges in a documents probe, per report.\">legal experts dispute<\/a> the level of fairness of Hunter Biden&#8217;s trial against charges of lying on a federal form to purchase a gun and illegally possessing it for 11 days. Despite being a rare case brought by the Delaware U.S. Attorney&#8217;s office, legal experts believe the \u200bevidence against\u200c Biden is strong and that \u2062the trial is appropriate. The case stemmed \u2064from a five-year federal investigation into the first son&#8217;s finances and personal life,\u200c resulting\u2063 in possible tax and Foreign Agents Registration\u2062 Act\u200c violations\u200b in addition to the gun charges. The trial has been full of personal and controversial details, and \u200bthe outcome remains uncertain as the prosecution rests\u2062 their case. Last summer, a plea deal was reached that would have allowed Biden to avoid one\u200d of the gun charges and plead \u200cto two \u200cmisdemeanors, but it ultimately fell through and the case was brought to \u200dtrial.\u200c The trial is being closely watched by both political\u200c parties and has brought attention to the Delaware U.S. Attorney&#8217;s office and their handling of rare cases like \u2064this \u2064one.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hunter-biden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hunter Biden<\/a> is staring down a mountain of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3032266\/hunter-biden-trial-prosecution-rests-overwhelming-evidence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">evidence<\/a> against him in his gun case and a real possibility of a felony conviction, a scenario that he nearly avoided if not for a controversial string of events last summer.<\/p>\n<p>Special counsel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/david-weiss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Weiss<\/a>, the U.S. attorney of Delaware, went into the trial this week on firm footing and has many facts on his side, but legal experts differ on whether the case against the first son came about fairly.<\/p>\n<p>Biden is facing three felonies and the possibility of months or even years in prison over allegations that he lied on a federal form about his drug use to purchase a revolver in 2018 and that he then illegally kept the gun for 11 days while he was an unlawful drug user.<\/p>\n<p>The Delaware U.S. attorney\u2019s office rarely pursues charges under the laws Biden is now accused of violating, according to the last decade of court records there.<\/p>\n<p>Still, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/conservative\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>conservative<\/a> attorney Andy McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> the case is appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHunter Biden got the gun and handled it recklessly, resulting in its being discarded near a school. Such a case should get charged 10 times out of 10,\u201d McCarthy said, noting Democrats, who are typically gun-control advocates, should be glad the DOJ is enforcing laws in that arena.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden, a proponent of stricter gun laws, is in the awkward position of having signed a bill that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/117\/plaws\/publ159\/PLAW-117publ159.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">strengthened<\/a> penalties for a charge his own son is now facing.<\/p>\n<p>More unusual than the younger Biden\u2019s charges, which are being brought by his father\u2019s Department of Justice and not commonly prosecuted, is the trial scene itself.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Secret-Service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Secret Service<\/a> guard the proceedings. Along with Hunter Biden, several other members of Joe Biden\u2019s family, including first lady Jill Biden, have appeared at the courthouse, either as support or witnesses. Some witnesses have taken the stand and said they received immunity deals to avoid incriminating themselves while testifying. The courtroom and an overflow room are filled with dozens of reporters observing deeply personal evidence regarding Hunter Biden\u2019s struggles with addiction and tumultuous relationships with women and family members.<\/p>\n<h2>How Hunter\u2019s case began<\/h2>\n<p>Prosecutors uncovered the evidence through a five-year federal investigation of the first son that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/daughter-of-cop-punished-by-uva-for-racist-remark-after-social-justice-protesters-harassed-doxxed-her\/\" title=\"Daughter Of Cop Punished By UVA For \u2018Racist\u2019 Remark After Social Justice Protesters Harassed, Doxxed Her\">attracted national media attention<\/a> and intense scrutiny from Republicans who initially felt he was receiving preferential treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Charles Oberly, a former Delaware attorney general and Weiss\u2019s one-time superior at the U.S. attorney\u2019s office, cited the rare nature of the gun charges and said he could \u201cnot conceive of an office spending resources\u201d on such a case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen viewed against those [gun charge] statistics, the choice to make an example of the younger Biden raises, at a minimum, questions,\u201d Oberly said in an op-ed for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/voices\/2024\/06\/06\/hunter-biden-trial-felony-gun-case-doj-overreach\/73970702007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"USA Today\"><em>USA Today<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The inquiry into Hunter Biden was always far more complex than a narrow case about a single incident related to a gun purchase, though.<\/p>\n<p>It started at the end of 2018 as \u201can offshoot of an investigation the IRS was conducting into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/irs-investigation-into-hunter-biden-started-as-probe-into-foreign-pornography-ring\/\" title=\"IRS investigates Hunter Biden for involvement in foreign pornography ring.\">foreign-based amateur online pornography platform<\/a>,\u201d Gary Shapley, one of the criminal investigators at the time, <a href=\"https:\/\/waysandmeans.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Whistleblower-1-Transcript_Redacted.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Upon the FBI obtaining Hunter Biden\u2019s infamous laptop by subpoenaing a repair shop for it the following year, it transformed into a white-collar investigation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gravy-train-keeps-rolling-for-second-stepdaughter-ella-emhoff\/\" title=\"Gravy Train Keeps Rolling for Second Stepdaughter Ella Emhoff\">potential tax crimes<\/a> and Foreign Agents Registration Act violations.<\/p>\n<h2>Plea bargain blow-up<\/h2>\n<p>Weiss ultimately negotiated a plea agreement in the summer of 2023 that would have allowed Hunter Biden to scrape by with two misdemeanor tax charges while avoiding one gun violation, but with the caveat that he could still be charged for certain other offenses in the future.<\/p>\n<p>That deal aligned with DOJ cases with \u201csimilar fact patterns,\u201d former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2024\/06\/07\/hunter-biden-trial-truths-column-00162083\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> in a column.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Donald Trump appointee who is presiding over the gun case, unexpectedly rejected certain provisions of the deal at a hearing last July. She gave Hunter Biden and Weiss an opportunity to address the immunity aspects of the deal, but the parties reached an impasse on how to proceed. Later that year, Attorney General Merrick Garland made Weiss a special counsel,\u00a0and the first son was hit with the gun charges in Delaware and then nine tax charges in California.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are real reasons to believe this case should have never even gotten to a jury, based on a clear-eyed view of how the American legal system typically works,\u201d Khardori wrote, noting Noreika seemed \u201cbothered\u201d by the underwhelming charges in the deal.<\/p>\n<p>This all occurred against the backdrop of Republicans in Congress publicly blasting the DOJ for what they described as a failed \u201csweetheart\u201d deal and a lack of accountability for Hunter Biden\u2019s behavior that was driven by politics. When the tax charges later came down, they <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/release\/comer-statement-on-hunter-biden-indictment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">applauded<\/a> the indictment as the result of whistleblowers exposing that the DOJ had, in their eyes, originally planned to let the first son off easy.<\/p>\n<p>Oberly indicated he felt the DOJ improperly caved to congressional pressure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAddicts and nonaddicts alike make mistakes every day; no office has the ability or desire to prosecute each infraction,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd certainly no office should chase felony convictions and jail time in a misguided effort to appease either side in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Suggesting that Hunter Biden has been unfairly targeted and that he is now facing prosecution that an average American would not face is a \u201cspecious argument,\u201d McCarthy said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>After all, between congressional investigations, indictments, the leaked data of Hunter Biden\u2019s computer data, and the first son\u2019s own admissions in his memoir, it became apparent that his behavior during his adult life was not like that of an average American and also may not have been entirely aboveboard. It featured dark periods of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/drugs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>crack cocaine and alcohol addiction<\/a> intermixed with periods of galavanting around the globe wielding his father\u2019s name to rake in millions of dollars from foreign entities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Hunter hadn\u2019t been Biden\u2019s son, he\u2019d have been prosecuted back in late 2018 or early 2019 \u2014 instead, the prosecutor did nothing for 5 years then tried to make the case disappear,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cThe normal defendant does not get such indulgence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hunter Biden faces a substantial amount of evidence in his gun case, with a potential felony conviction looming. This situation, which he almost evaded, escalated due to controversial events last summer. This week, Special Counsel David Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for Delaware, proceeded with the trial<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2263192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24155440527305.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2263191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24155440527305.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2263191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2263192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2263191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2263191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2263191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}