Conservative legal expert Jonathan Turley questioned why Hunter Biden is not facing charges for unregistered foreign lobbying over his influence peddling.
Turley was reacting to newly publicized e-mails showing that then-vice president Biden met directly with his son's business associates, including a foreign national.
"The new collection of emails show Hunter’s involvement in planning meetings with his Dad, including foreign clients,” Turley said. “Once again, it is striking that leaks from the Justice Department do not include potential charges under FARA as an unregistered foreign agent.”
The e-mails are just the latest evidence of an extensive influence peddling operation centered on Hunter Biden, who has long been suspected of selling access to his politician father.
One of Hunter Biden's associates was a mysterious tycoon with close ties to the Chinese government, Ye Jianming, who famously gave Hunter Biden an $80,000 diamond.
A damning report released by House Republicans last week said that at least $10 million flowed to Biden family members and their associates from shadowy foreign sources. Many of the transactions occurred while Biden was vice president and moved through a complicated web of shell companies.
"We've never seen a presidential family receive these sums of money from adversaries around the world," chairman James Comer (Ky.) said.
Despite what appears to be strong circumstantial evidence of money laundering, to say nothing of foreign lobbying, Hunter Biden is said to only be facing charges for tax fraud and lying on a gun form.
Turley wrote in a column for the New York Post that Hunter Biden should be charged under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, if the law is applied evenly. That's a big if, to be certain.
FARA is seldom and selectively enforced. It was used to prosecute Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort over his ties to Ukraine, a country where Hunter Biden also has dubious ties, as Turley noted.
"If the Justice Department applies the same standard applied to figures like Manafort, Biden would likely be indicted," Turley wrote.
Hunter Biden's finances have been under federal investigation since 2018, but there have long been concerns the probe is being stalled by corrupt partisans inside Washington.
An IRS whistleblower alleges that his entire investigative team was dismissed by the Department of Justice after he raised concerns about political interference.
