Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has been indicted.
Fox News reports that Special Counsel David Weiss indicted Hunter Biden on Thursday on federal gun charges.
Biden could end up facing significant jail time - as many as 25 years behind bars.
Legal experts, though, believe that the likelihood is that Biden will not spend any time in jail.
The indictment alleges that Biden lied on a form that he filled out in 2018 to purchase a gun.
It reads:
On or about October 12, 2018, in the District of Delaware, the defendant, Robert Hunter Biden, in connection with the acquisition of a firearm, that is, a Colt Cobra 38SPL Revolver with serial number RA 551363 . . . knowingly made a false and fictitious written statement, intended and likely to deceive that dealer with respect to a fact material to the lawfulness of the sale of the firearm.
The indictment goes on to state that Biden "provided a written statement on Form 4473 certifying he was not an unlawful user of, and addicted to, any stimulant, narcotic drug, and any other controlled substance, when in fact, as he knew, that statement was false and fictitious."
The indictment also states that Hunter Biden subsequently possessed the gun despite "knowing that he was an unlawful user of and addicted to any stimulant, narcotic drug, and any other controlled substance."
This is the first-ever indictment of a sitting president's child.
Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell has responded to Weiss's indictment with a public statement. Lowell said:
As expected, prosecutors filed charges today that they deemed were not warranted just six weeks ago following a five-year investigation into this case. The evidence in this matter has not changed in the last six weeks, but the law has and so has MAGA Republicans’ improper and partisan interference in this process.
Lowell, here, is referring to the "sweetheart" plea deal that recently fell apart. The reader may remember that prosecutors - led by Weiss before he was made special counsel - agreed to have Hunter Biden plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts but no gun charge.
Lowell continued:
Hunter Biden possessing an unloaded gun for 11 day [sic] was not a threat to public safety, but a prosecutor, with all the power imaginable, bending to political pressure presents a grave threat to our system of justice. We believe these charges are barred by the agreement the prosecutors made with Mr. Biden, the recent rulings by several federal courts that this statute is unconstitutional, and the facts that he did not violate that law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court.
Weiss, notably, has not indicted Hunter Biden on any tax charges, but it is still possible that such charges may be forthcoming.
Many believe that, ultimately, the government will let Hunter Biden off the hook, that this indictment was only brought to silence critics who say that America has two systems of justice, one for Democrats and one for Republicans. Time will tell.
