Hunter Biden’s conviction on three felony gun charges is leaving Republicans conflicted and in a tricky spot on political messaging.
Many are cheering the decision and even taking credit for the case going to court at all, pointing to the impact of IRS whistleblowers who spoke to House Republicans last year and alleged the investigation into Hunter Biden was being slow-walked.
“If they had not come forward, these gun charges would have been swept under the rug with a sweetheart plea agreement last July,” House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said of the IRS whistleblowers in a statement after the verdict Tuesday.
But the conviction isn’t for the conduct Republicans were most hoping to see prosecuted: his failure to pay taxes on income they’ve put under the microscope during their own impeachment investigation.
And many who have watched Hunter Biden’s legal woes with a critical eye are likewise champions for gun rights, prompting some to question the nature of the conviction.
“Hunter might deserve to be in jail for something, but purchasing a gun is not it,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wrote on the social platform X. “There are millions of marijuana users who own guns in this country, and none of them should be in jail for purchasing or possessing a firearm against current laws.”
A jury on Tuesday found Hunter Biden guilty on all three felony counts for lying about his drug use on a background check form when purchasing a revolver in 2018 and unlawfully possessing the firearm. He is facing additional charges with tax crimes in a separate case in California.
His unlawful possession conviction is nestled in a section of federal law on the front lines of battles over the Second Amendment following the Supreme Court’s landmark expansion of gun rights two years ago. Conservative and gun-rights groups have broadly attacked the provisions, which prohibit various categories of people from owning firearms, as unconstitutional.
“These gun control laws should not exist. This should be a wakeup call for the entire Republican Party and GOP lawmaker to stop abandoning the Second Amendment,” the National Association for Gun Rights said in a statement following Tuesday’s verdict.
Gun-rights-minded Republicans are still supporting the verdict, though. Asked if Hunter Biden shouldn’t have been convicted because the gun laws should not exist, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said, “Well, they do exist, and he’s not above the law.”
“Good spin, though,” added Boebert, who is a co-chair of the Second Amendment Caucus with Massie.
The Supreme Court’s gun-rights expansion could mean Hunter Biden’s charge is eventually struck down, a scenario his lawyers contend would require dismissing the other two counts as well. Biden’s trial judge rejected the defense, but it is likely to be brought up on appeal. Already, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguably the nation’s most conservative federal appeals court, ruled the crime is unconstitutional as applied to a marijuana user.
The Justice Department (DOJ) has appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, but the justices appear to be holding it until they hand down another highly anticipated Second Amendment decision, expected later this month.
Currently, the high court is weighing whether to strike down a provision similar to Hunter Biden’s charge that bans gun possession for people under domestic violence restraining orders. The decision could provide more clarity to whether Biden’s charge will survive.
In some corners, Republicans are not bothered by the gun charges — only the response from Democrats that the conviction shows the DOJ is not unfairly targeting the GOP like the party has claimed.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), for his part, said the Biden conviction does not undercut the GOP claims of unfair treatment of former President Trump, who was recently found guilty of 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records relating to a hush money payment in 2016.
“Every case is different. And clearly the evidence was overwhelming here. I don’t think that’s the case in the Trump trials,” Johnson told CNN.
But as Democrats argue that the conviction against the president’s son debunks core GOP arguments of a justice system that has been “weaponized” against Republicans, some Republicans see the conviction as a smokescreen.
“Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict is nothing more than the Left’s attempt to create the illusion of equal justice. Don’t fall for it,” Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) posted on X.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) wrote on X that the gun conviction was “kinda dumb”
“It’s a silly distraction,” Gaetz said.
“The Bidens were moving millions of dollars in Chinese bribe money around. Getting him on this gun charge is like getting Jeffrey Dahmer on littering.”
The Bidens have denied accepting any bribes from any foreign government, and while Hunter Biden conducted business deals with Chinese companies, impeachment investigators have yet to demonstrate the president took any official action that benefited his family.
Republicans hope that the conviction does not overshadow what they see as more important objections to how Hunter Biden conducted his foreign business operations and disputed allegations of involvement by President Biden. An impeachment probe against the president related to that has largely stalled amid lack of support in the slim House GOP majority.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who is heading up part of the impeachment effort, said in a statement that the verdict is a “step toward accountability. … But until the Department of Justice investigates everyone involved in the Bidens’ corrupt influence peddling schemes that generated over $18 million in foreign payments to the Biden family, it will be clear department officials continue to cover for the Big Guy, Joe Biden,” Comer said.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) took an entirely different direction when asked Wednesday about the Hunter Biden verdict on Fox Business, saying that there could be an “opening for Democrats to slip someone like Michele Obama in here.”
“The Biden family can say, ‘Hey, we’re going to take care of our house and our son and allow Michele Obama to come in and run because Joe Biden cannot win this election,” Ogles said.