Hunter Biden’s federal gun conviction complicates his father’s reelection campaign

Two presidential sons have followed their fathers to the White House. Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, may be headed to the Big House.

It’s no sure thing that Hunter Biden will serve prison time after a jury in Delaware on June 11 found him guilty on three felony gun charges. The verdict came after a weeklong trial in federal district court that focused on his history of drug addiction.

Two counts carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, while the third has a maximum of five years. Under federal sentencing guideline recommendations, he could be sentenced to over one year in prison, but the judge could sentence him to more or less time. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000.

No sentencing date has been set.

Hunter Biden’s conviction adds to the unique nature of Joe Biden’s presidency. The president, 81, is already the oldest White House occupant. Now he’s the only president with a child convicted of felony charges. That hardly puts him in the league of Presidents John Adams and George H.W. Bush, whose sons and namesakes became presidents — John Quincy Adams and George W. Bush, respectively.

Lawfare a rising concern?

The Hunter Biden jury’s decision came 12 days after a Manhattan jury found former President Donald Trump, the looming 2024 Republican nominee in a repeat fight against Biden, guilty of all 34 charges in his hush money trial. With the New York state verdict, Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a felony.

Trump’s Republican defenders had suggested a Hunter Biden conviction would dilute Democrats’ moral authority in prosecuting a public case against Trump. The president’s son being found guilty, in this view, would effectively even the “lawfare” playing field, a dangerous game in which judiciary resources are used to target political opponents, not due to legal merit.

But shortly after Hunter Biden’s conviction, a top Trump aide in the White House and now on the campaign trail, Stephen Miller, said it didn’t go far enough. He argued that the Department of Justice should have brought charges related to Hunter Biden’s influence peddling schemes during his father’s previous stints in government, as vice president from 2009-17, and as a Democratic senator from Delaware for 36 years before that.

“DOJ is running election interference for Joe Biden — that’s why DOJ did NOT charge Hunter with being an unregistered foreign agent (FARA) or any crime connected with foreign corruption,” Miller wrote on X on June 11. “Why? Because all the evidence would lead back to JOE.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a key Trump ally on Capitol Hill, made a similar case, if more succinctly.

“The Hunter Biden gun conviction is kinda dumb tbh,” Gaetz wrote on X.

Both father and president

Joe Biden, briefly in Washington between trips to Europe, focused his reaction on the personal, not the political, alluding to his son and first lady Jill Biden.

“I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal,” the president said in a statement. “Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that.”

How much, if at all, Hunter Biden’s conviction affects the presidential race is still an open question. For months, polls have shown a neck-and-neck race or Trump slightly leading. Some polling has suggested Trump’s criminal conviction turns voters off. But few data suggest how Hunter Biden’s legal woes might affect the campaign’s trajectory.

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Some Trump critics argued Joe Biden would benefit due to his son’s restrained behavior after his criminal conviction, compared to the former president.

“Says something pretty awful about @realDonaldTrump & all @MAGA cultists that a recovering crackhead addict like Hunter Biden behaved w/respect, remorse and decorum on his way to conviction,” former Wall Street Journal reporter Douglas Blackmon wrote on X. “Trump’s weeks-long fit of crybaby duplicities and threats was pitiful by comparison.”