U.S.
Sep. 17—Whole legal mess surrounding the criminal probe of President Joe Biden's son is getting worse.
Just seven weeks ago, the U.S. Justice Department was prepared to sprinkle Hunter Biden — President Biden's son — with a few drops of holy water and tell him to go forth and sin no more.
This past week, the same Justice Department indicted the White House bad boy on felony gun charges stemming from his illegal gun purchase as a drug addict. What gives?
For now, it's something of a mystery. It's going to take some thorough analysis by legal experts and solid reporting to untangle this web of intrigue.
But the short-term answer is that statute of limitations issues forced federal prosecutor David Weiss to either take action or appear to be totally in the tank for the administration.
Weiss' actions hardly come in a vacuum. He's already been accused by whistleblowers of slow-walking criminal investigations into Hunter Biden's alleged drug use, tax fraud and lucrative work on behalf of foreign corporations.
The New York Times reports Weiss has been "investigating (Hunter Biden's) failure to file his 2017 and 2018 tax returns on time." Under the canceled plea agreement, Biden was prepared to plead "guilty to two misdemeanor counts stemming from the tax investigation."
He's supposedly under investigation for not paying his taxes "on time," as opposed to trying to evade them. The Times has reported that Hunter Biden, who borrowed the money, paid off a roughly $1 million tax bill in 2020, long after authorities began their inquiry.
Two of the three charges against Biden allege he illegally purchased a Colt Cobra handgun in 2018 because he lied on a federal form by denying his use of illegal drugs. A third is a straight unlawful possession charge.
It's widely known that Hunter Biden was addicted to crack cocaine at the time and engaged in a wide variety of inappropriate behavior.
Bu there's a conundrum. According to news reports, two charges are constitutionally suspect. Citing a variety of court decisions, news outlets report there are serious legal doubts about the government's constitutional authority to put "certain conditions" on firearm purchases.
That, of course, is just one of many questions that have been raised. Indeed, Hunter Biden's lawyers have challenged the ability of the government to bring any charges in the aftermath of the failed plea agreement because they suggest its conditions still apply.
Perhaps that explains this oddity. Although Hunter Biden has not pleaded guilty to anything, his lawyers say he "has been making regular visits to his court-assigned probation officer," according to The Wall Street Journal.