The charges brought against President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden are rarely prosecuted, legal experts say.
Under a plea deal reached with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware — an office headed by Donald Trump appointee David Weiss — Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of failing to pay taxes, which he later reimbursed. Biden also faces a felony gun charge — possession of a firearm by a person who is an “unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” — but it is likely to be dismissed if he meets certain conditions under the plea agreement, according to court documents.
The federal gun charge, which makes it unlawful for a drug addict to possess a weapon, is a rarely used statute that is facing legal challenges and has recently been used as a catch-all charge against white supremacists.
Like the gun charge, the tax charges are rarely brought against first-time offenders and even more rarely result in jail time, Andrew Weissmann, a former FBI general counsel and NBC News contributor, tweeted Tuesday. "This is if anything harsh, not lenient," he wrote.
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