Hunter Biden recently was indicted on three counts relating to his alleged lies on a federal application to purchase a gun. He also could face multiple tax fraud counts, as well as charges for acting on behalf of a foreign government without registering as a foreign agent.

Weeks ago, a federal prosecutor offered a sweetheart deal that, in return for a guilty plea to a couple of misdemeanors and participation in a diversion program, all of the tax and gun charges would go away.

The judge, however, raised questions about whether it could grant future immunity for things like the foreign agent charges, and the deal disintegrated in one court hearing.

NBC reported Michael LaRosa, a former aide to Jill Biden, explained, "Every day, this president wakes up and thinks about his deceased son [Beau Biden, who died of cancer] and probably cries every day. And the weight of [Hunter’s legal troubles] is equally emotionally taxing."

He said the Bidens are very protective of Hunter, and claimed he's "unfairly" been made a target.

Actually, Congress is investigating Hunter Biden, and has uncovered evidence he's run a massive influence-peddling scheme, selling access to Joe Biden as vice president, then president, for years.

The facts include an FBI report, from a trusted confidential source, of $10 million in bribes for the Bidens, of $20 million being paid to Biden family members, of a gifted Porsche, and much, much more.

Further, Congress also has opened an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden's connections to all of that income.

The Washington Free Beacon noted that Hunter Biden is generating some of the controversy himself, suing the IRS after two whistleblowers came forward to confirm the Department of Justice "obstructed" the agency investigation into the millions in income on which he declined to pay taxes.

The NBC report also speculated that the legal headaches Hunter Biden is facing could distract Joe Biden from focusing on his announced plan to seek re-election in 2024, wanting a term that would not end until he is 86 years old.

The report said, "A distracted president, perhaps more prone to mistakes or missteps, is the political toll people close to Biden worry could hurt him in 2024 as his son faces at least one indictment and potentially trials in multiple jurisdictions stemming from his conduct during the height of his drug addiction."

Biden already is well known for "mistakes or missteps," as he apparently is showing his age with a multitude of "senior moments." He's forgotten how to get off a stage, he's misidentified his own grandchildren, he's called for a congresswoman who was dead, and he's repeatedly told lies about himself, such as his conversations with an Amtrak worker who actually was dead at the time the conversation supposedly took lace.

"There’s no doubt in my mind that it's a huge, huge concern for the president — as it would be for any parent. Especially a parent who lost a child too early in life," said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the report noted.

He pointed out Biden was "ticked off" by the House Republicans' move to open an impeachment inquiry.

NBC wrote that the Bidens "were consumed with worry, not just over the legal challenges facing their son, but with the unwelcome public spotlight shone on his personal life, and whether they should publicly acknowledge a daughter he fathered with an Arkansas woman during the peak of his struggles with drug addiction."