Editorial: Error and trial: Hunter Biden’s trial is not about his father
Normally, a trial in the federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, for lying about not being a drug addict on a form to buy a Colt Cobra .38 Special revolver would not be of much concern to the public. But since the defendant is troubled First Son Hunter Biden and the case is prosecuted by a special counsel appointed by the U.S. attorney general, the world is watching.
So begins a proceeding that will no doubt feature intense media and political interest, but which ultimately has little bearing on the actual president beyond his relation to the defendant, something that cannot be said about the former president who has been personally convicted of 34 felony charges.
Joe Biden has professed his unconditional and support love for his son, and otherwise stayed out of the prosecution. We don’t really have to worry about him interfering; the odds that the president would exercise any of his considerable power over the proceedings (including a presidential pardon) are about as slim as the odds that Donald Trump wouldn’t do so in a similar position.
Like all criminal defendants, the younger Biden is presumed innocent and the government must prove its charges. While the case may very well harm Joe’s reelection campaign, Hunter’s father has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
The case was brought by Special Counsel David Weiss, who was Donald Trump’s U.S. attorney for Delaware, and alleges that Hunter Biden filled out the federal paperwork, known as an ATF Form 4473, and lied on the legal document in order to get the handgun in October 2018, when his father Joe was not on public office.
Weiss says that Hunter was a drug addict at the time.
Weiss has also indicted Hunter in California for not paying at least $1.4 million in federal income taxes between January 2017 through about Oct. 15, 2020, which also is the period when Joe was a private citizen during the four years between being vice president and president. That trial is due to start in September, even worse timing for dad’s campaign.
Hunter is being prosecuted on the merits of his own case for his own actions, for an alleged crime that did not involve anyone else, especially his father. Whether he is convicted or acquitted, his father’s political opponents will try to use the case to harm Joe Biden’s electoral prospects and governing agenda. That is fair game in politics.
What was terribly wrong was when Republicans tried to concoct evidence for conspiracy theories about the elder Biden’s supposed efforts to cover up his son’s dealings in Ukraine. To date, they have not found any incriminating materials for their various impeachment fantasies.
The truth is, this gun and drug case has very little to do with Joe Biden, who seems mainly to have gently tried to nudge his wayward son back into a straighter path and otherwise let the latter make his own decisions. We imagine that a lot of the MAGA opportunists would see this a lot differently if their own children were dealing with addiction and related issues, which isn’t to say that Hunter’s behavior should be excused away, but that it’s disgraceful to use it as a mere arrow in the political quiver.
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