Hunter Biden arrives in court. BBC/Getty.
A jury has been empaneled in the Hunter Biden federal gun crime trial. BBC. Prosecutors say that Hunter Biden lied on the federal background check form ATF Form 4473 about his drug use. If convicted on all three charges Biden would face 25 years in prison. In addition to the gun charge, Biden was charged for two counts of lying on the form and one count of illegal gun possession. Biden threw the gun, a revolver, away and it was recovered at a Delaware grocery store. The evidence against Biden is strong as he had admitted that he was a drug addict in texts and other communications, as well as testimony against him. Joe Biden has vowed to support his son.
My Comment:
I have mixed feelings on this. I don't think there is any real doubt that Hunter Biden is guilty of what he was charged with. The ATF form (PDF) asks if you have used illegal drugs and Biden was absolutely using illegal drugs in the time frame that Biden bought the gun. I don't see how Biden gets away with this if the jury follows the law. This is about as close to an open and shut case as I have ever seen.
My problem is that I don't think the form is constitutional under the standard set by NYSRPA v Bruen that says that gun laws have to have a historical precedence. I don't believe that precedence exists for background check forms. I also think that even drug users should have a right to keep and bear arms. Indeed, there is some thought that if Hunter Biden is convicted for this he could end up appealing it to the Supreme Court and form 4473 could be overturned. Wouldn't that be something, the son of one of the worst anti-gun presidents in American history being responsible for overturning a bad gun law?
I also feel that this is probably a politically motivated prosecution. People are only rarely charged for lying under 4473 and I don't think Hunter Biden would have been charged if the Republicans hadn't embarrassed the government into filing charges. Though given that Donald Trump was charged and convicted for entirely political reasons of a crime that didn't really exist until Democrats created it, perhaps a bit of tit for tat is justifiable. Regardless, I don't think the law should be selectively applied, even if Hunter Biden absolutely broke the law and should go to prison for it, ignoring any constitutional issues with the law.
Will the jury convict? It really depends. Delaware is a blue state and I am guessing most if not all of the jury voted for Joe Biden and might not want to do anything to hurt his chances in 2024. I also fear that they will be threatened given how much of an absolute thug Joe Biden is.
But if it comes down to the evidence I can't imagine that Hunter Biden is acquitted. The case is pretty open and shut so I think the only real possibilities of Biden getting off is jury nullification, a mistrial or some kind of absolutely terrible performance by the prosecutors or a masterful one by the defense. I don't really see any of those things happening so I am guessing that Biden will be convicted.
Will this have much of an impact on the 2024 race? Much like the Trump show-trial, I don't think it will really affect anything. Unlike 2020, everyone already knows how much of a scumbag Hunter Biden is and honestly, Biden's son isn't the one running. Everything that will come out in this trial is already baked into the 2024 election, same with the Trump conviction. I have been saying for awhile that this election will come down to the economy and foreign policy, not the personalities and foils of the respective candidates of the Republican and Democratic Parties.
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