PHOENIX (AP) — Republicans responded Hunter Biden‘s sentencing on federal gun charges Tuesday with some version of, “That’s it?”
Republicans loyal to Donald Trump largely echoed the former president’s claim that the Justice Department handled the president Joe Biden‘s son wearing kid gloves as he zealously prosecuted Trump. Taking advantage of the attention given to Hunter Biden’s conviction on charges related to buying a gun while addicted to drugs, they raised unsubstantiated or debunked allegations that Joe Biden – while vice president – acted to promote the foreign business interests of his relatives.
“Remember, this was Joe Biden’s corrupt DOJ trying to negotiate outside immunity that had nothing to do with this case,” said Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican and a contender to become Vice Presidential running mate to become Trump. “Today is the first step in delivering accountability. for the Biden crime family.”
In a deal with prosecutors last year, Hunter Biden had to plead guilty to tax crimes and avoid prosecution in the gun case if he stayed out of trouble for two years. But the deal fell apart after the judge, whom Trump nominated, questioned unusual aspects of the proposed agreement, and lawyers were unable to resolve the case.
J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican and another vice presidential candidate, shared a message from Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno saying the gun charges were intended to “isolate and protect” the president.
Trump’s campaign released a statement calling the verdict “nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said the guilty verdict was “appropriate” and did not undermine his own criticism of a two-tier justice system for Trump and the Bidens.
“Every case is different,” Johnson said. “And the evidence here was clearly overwhelming. I don’t think that’s the case in the Trump trial, and all the charges brought against him are clearly brought for political purposes. Hunter Biden is a separate incident.”
The charges against Hunter Biden stem from a dark period in his life, in which he acknowledges that he has undergone a downward spiral after the death of his brother. Beau Bidenof cancer in 2015. Jurors found him guilty of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer when he bought a revolver in 2018, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and using the gun illegally for 11 days had in his possession.
He still faces a September trial in California on charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes, and Republicans in Congress have signaled they will continue to go after him in their stalled impeachment efforts against the president. The president has not been accused or charged of any wrongdoing by prosecutors investigating his son.
Hunter Biden’s conviction came weeks after a jury in New York found Trump guilty of 34 charges related to the payment of hush money to a porn actor during the 2016 campaign. Trump falsely claims the verdict was “rigged.” Biden said he accepted his son’s judgment.
Many in Trump’s Republican Party are firmly against gun control, and some of his supporters have questioned whether Hunter Biden should have been tried on the gun charges. Representative Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican and high-profile Trump supporter, posted on X: “The conviction for Hunter Biden’s gun is pretty stupid.”
Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-South Carolina, told reporters at the Capitol that the gun accusation was a “waste of time,” though he said other allegations involving Hunter Biden’s taxes were “serious.”
“I just think he’s being punished,” Graham said, adding that the average person would “get into drug abuse or something.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, made similar comments.
“Hunter may deserve to be in jail for something, but buying a gun doesn’t,” Massie wrote on for purchasing or possessing a firearm in violation of current laws.”
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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Steven Groves and Farnoush Amiri contributed.
