Hunter Biden: Guilty

A tale of two convictions

Guilty on all three counts. It’s not a surprising verdict. The government’s evidence was strong. Jurors told CNN afterward that they considered the evidence and didn’t feel any pressure despite the political context of the case. A juror said that “no politics came into play” during deliberations before they arrived at a guilty verdict.

If Donald Trump’s conviction gave us hope for the rule of law, this conviction, and the way the sitting president, the father of the defendant, permitted the process to proceed confirms that it still works. If you’re an institutionalist, and I unabashedly am, it was important to see a jury render a verdict based on the evidence without external influence.

That doesn’t negate the personal tragedy for a family that loves its son and father despite his struggle with addiction. Nor does it speak to whether Hunter Biden might have issues that will succeed on appeal—it’s his right to pursue them. But it helps us understand that presidents don’t have to label prosecutions witch hunts or attack judges, court personnel, witnesses, and jurors. They can accept that people who violate the law, even those dear to them, must be held accountable. Grand juries and trial juries determine whether a defendant will be indicted and whether a defendant will be convicted. No prosecutor, acting on their own, can make either of those things take place.

Hunter Biden now faces a maximum sentence of 10 years for each count of conviction, but in the federal system, sentencing is conducted under the United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines, which produce far more modest results, especially in the case of a first-time offender like Biden. As with Trump in Manhattan, his probation officer will conduct a presentence investigation and write a report for the Judge, suggesting what the appropriate guideline range is. Both sides are likely to file sentencing memoranda arguing for the sentence they believe is appropriate. Biden is likely to end up in a range where probation is possible. Sentencing will take place approximately 120 days out.

Trump supporters were not outraged by the conviction. They did not call the case a political witch hunt or the Judge corrupt. Instead, they said, and I kid you not here, that the prosecution was an effort to protect Joe Biden. Former Jeff Sessions aide turned Trump sycophant Stephen Miller laid it out:

DOJ, according to Miller, failed to charge Hunter Biden with acting as an unregistered foreign agent and other instances of foreign corruption “Because all the evidence would lead back to JOE.”

It sounds good unless you insist on listening to the facts. Miller ignores that whole episode in Congress when House Republicans tried to gin up evidence against Joe Biden on these charges so they could impeach him, only to have their case fall apart and their much-vaunted key witness end up in prison for lying to the FBI.

Hunter Biden can appeal his conviction and almost certainly will. He will raise arguments about the Second Amendment—there are cases percolating in the courts over whether the history and tradition of the United States permit Congress to pass laws that make it illegal for certain groups of people like those convicted of felonies, those under domestic violence restraining orders (that’s Rahimi, a Supreme Court case argued this term that we are still waiting for a decision in), and as in this case, those who use or are addicted to illegal drugs to possess firearms. He may have other arguments as well, but the Second Amendment challenges are serious ones in light of the path of the Court’s recent jurisprudence on firearms, and Biden is a good candidate to receive a bond to remain out of custody while his case is on appeal.

The law commands a federal judge to take a defendant into custody following a conviction unless the judge finds that “there is a substantial likelihood that a motion for acquittal or new trial will be granted; or an attorney for the Government has recommended that no sentence of imprisonment be imposed on the person; and the judicial officer finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person is not likely to flee or pose a danger to any other person or the community.”

Donald Trump is still out on bond despite his conviction and is likely to remain out during his appeal. Steve Bannon, who, as someone who wasn’t a part of the administration when he refused to comply with Congressional subpoenas, had only a whisper-thin argument to make that he was covered by executive privilege, got a bond, too—he’s still out on it even though the Court of Appeals ruled against him after the trial judge gave him until July 1 to report with the possibility of further extension. There have been no complaints from Trump’s supporters on either score, but expect that to change if Hunter Biden gets an appeal bond.

President Biden issued a statement. It said, “I am the President, but I am also a Dad.” He went on to say he loved his son and that “we are so proud of the man he is today.” He talked about the tragedy of addiction and the pride of seeing a family member recover. Then, he said, “I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.”

Biden could have ordered DOJ to drop the case or replaced the prosecutor, David Weiss, who was the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney in Delaware before he became the special prosecutor in Hunter Biden’s case. Joe Biden could have done either of those things, but he didn’t. And we are all better off for having a president who understands that the rule of law must come first.

According to Republicans, Joe Biden has politicized the Justice Department. But there has been no evidence of that all along and certainly none today, quite the contrary.

Former Trump Defense Department official and national security adviser Kash Patel tried to explain it:

"‘Hunter Biden's guilty verdict is a rare example of constitutional justice, one not where individuals receive biased treatment based on their last name,’ Patel said. ‘The jury was able to consider the prosecution and defense evidence in full, in accordance with due process — a right that was single-handedly bastardized against President Trump by the judge, jury and prosecutors in New York.’"

He was joined by Trump Vice Presidential hopeful Elise Stefanik, who called the verdict “the first step in delivering accountability for the Biden crime family. We must and we will continue as House Republicans to investigate the Biden crime family for the corrupt peddling schemes that generated over $18 million in foreign payments to the Biden client family members.”

Weaponization of the Justice Department for political purposes by President Biden? No.

We’re in this together,

Joyce