President Biden’s top priorities include cracking down on wealthy tax cheats, illegal guns and White supremacist domestic terrorists, and yet his son got a favorable plea deal on two out of three.
Some lawmakers said the federal prosecutor’s plea deal with Hunter Biden on tax evasion and illegal firearm possession conflicted with his father’s agenda.
Mr. Biden has called for expanding firearm background checks and banning certain types of semi-automatic rifles, yet his own son failed to report his history of drug addiction on a background check form when he purchased a gun in Delaware in October 2018. He cut a deal to avoid prosecution on a felony by entering a pretrial diversion agreement.
The Washington Times reached out to the White House and the Justice Department for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican who has helped negotiate bipartisan legislation to bolster the background check system for gun purchases, said Hunter Biden’s deal with federal prosecutors on falsifying the gun form “absolutely” clashes with the president’s gun control push.
“When somebody lies and buys, and you don’t prosecute them, I think that’s an inconsistent message,” Mr. Cornyn said.
SEE ALSO: ‘Sweetheart deal’ on Hunter Biden’s felony gun charge raises complaints of double standard
Mr. Biden’s agenda has also prioritized pursuing wealthy tax cheats with funding that will enable the IRS to hire as many as 87,000 new agents.
Hunter Biden dodged paying $200,000 to the IRS in 2017 and 2018. This week he entered a misdemeanor plea deal for failing to pay his taxes on time that likely will keep him from serving any jail time.
“We do not have equal administration of justice under the law anymore, and people know it,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican.
But the president’s Democratic allies in Congress say Mr. Biden is not betraying his principles and that the president’s son received a fair plea deal.
Democrats on Capitol Hill said the criticisms of the plea deal have no merit, in part because U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware was nominated to his position by Mr. Trump.
Sen. Chris Coons, Delaware Democrat, said he was satisfied with Mr. Weiss’ investigation and the resulting plea deal for the president’s son.
“My sense of this is that the outcome of this investigation — these charges — are very similar to how comparable cases have been handled in terms of late payment of income taxes and misrepresentation on a background check,” Mr. Coons said.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, Maryland Democrat, told The Washington Times that the American justice system worked fairly with the Hunter Biden plea deal.
“If Hunter Biden violated the tax laws in the United States and the firearms laws in the United States, which my Republican colleagues oppose, Hunter Biden should pay the consequences,” he said.
A federal judge on Wednesday scheduled a court hearing for Hunter Biden to appear and enter his plea on July 26 in Wilmington, Delaware. U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, a 2017 Trump appointee, will oversee the case and decide whether to approve the plea deal.
Mr. Raskin rejected Republicans’ claims of a two-tiered justice system that worked in favor of Democrats and their families, and accused the GOP of demanding that only Democrats face harsh judicial outcomes.
“Ask Donald Trump’s U.S. attorney who negotiated it. Ask him … I don’t opine on every criminal punishment in the country,” he said. “That’s a Republican trait. I let the criminal justice system work.”
Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Weiss in November 2017 after Delaware’s two Democratic senators, Mr. Coons and Tom Carper, urged Mr. Trump to nominate him.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat, said the firearm and tax charges and the respective plea deal that Hunter Biden received were “standard.” More importantly, he said, his crimes could not be tied to his father.
Hunter Biden may have received a more severe punishment because he is the son of the president, Mr. Nadler said.
“One could argue that if he weren’t the president’s son, he would have gotten off scot-free,” Mr. Nadler said. “In fact, most of the time, these minor things aren’t bothered to be prosecuted. But in this case, they were and he got a suspended sentence and so forth. But the Republicans are trying to say that this is the Biden crime family. That’s ridiculous.”
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi Democrat, insisted that the justice system would fairly mete out Hunter Biden’s punishment.
“He pled guilty. He’s not an elected official, he pled guilty. And I’m sure a judge will take that guilty plea and pass out a penalty accordingly,” he said.
According to a letter filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware on Tuesday, the president’s son will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses and is expected to reach an agreement with prosecutors on the charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user.
Mr. Weiss said in a court notice that Mr. Biden would admit to the gun charge and enter a pretrial diversion agreement, an alternative to the judicial system that potentially avoids a criminal record.
All applicants purchasing legal firearms must fill out a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives form. It requires buyers to answer several questions about their competency, criminal history, drug use, immigration status and history of domestic violence.
“Applicants who knowingly make false statements may also face criminal prosecution for a felony and up to 10 years in federal prison,” the ATF states on its website.
On Jan. 10, the Justice Department stated that federal prosecutors were “aggressively pursuing those who lie in connection with firearm transactions.”
Rep. Andrew S. Clyde, a Georgia Republican who owns a firearms shop in his district, told The Washington Times that Hunter Biden received an unusually light sentence for lying on his gun purchase form.
“He clearly falsified [the form]. That’s 10 years and a $50,000 fine. That’s a felony,” he said. “How do you get off with pleading to a misdemeanor with zero jail time…I don’t understand,” he said. “It’s clearly a two-tiered system of justice here. I’ve never known anyone who falsified a [form] to that extent, to get such a lenient sentence from the Department of Justice.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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