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Biden Trots Out ‘Felon’ Label at Debate; Trump Answers with Hunter’s Conviction and Warns of Jail for Rival
The recent collision of presidential politics and criminal law played a prominent role in Thursday night’s debate, with President Joe Biden cautioning voters against reelecting a convicted felon, while former president Donald Trump was quick to point out that the incumbent’s own son was recently ensnared in a serious criminal prosecution.
Asked whether he bore any responsibility for the January 6 Capitol riot, Trump denied all responsibility, insisting that he urged the crowd to remain peaceful before abruptly turning the tables, accusing President Biden of criminality.
“Joe could be a convicted felon with all of the things that he’s done,” Trump said.
“The only person on this stage who’s a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now,” Biden shot back, gesturing toward Trump.
“When he talked about a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon at a very high level,” Trump retorted. “[He] should’ve been convicted before, but his Justice Department let the statute of limitations lapse on the most important things.”
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg secured a conviction against Trump in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush-money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels by his former attorney Michael Cohen. Trump and his allies have accused the Justice Department of coordinating with Bragg on the prosecution because Bragg’s office hired former Biden Justice Department official Matthew Colangelo to help prosecute the Trump case. The Justice Department has denied the allegations of collusion with Bragg’s office.
Special counsel Jack Smith is prosecuting Trump in Florida for allegedly mishandling classified documents and in Washington, D.C., for his apparent role in the January 6 Capitol riot. Trump is facing 40 criminal counts in the classified-documents case and four counts related to January 6.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and routinely attacks Smith for allegedly attempting to influence the 2024 election in Biden’s favor.
Last month, Judge Aileen Cannon indefinitely delayed Trump’s classified-documents trial, and the D.C. proceedings are delayed until the Supreme Court rules on Trump’s presidential-immunity claim in the coming days.
Hunter Biden was convicted on three federal gun charges stemming from his purchase and possession of a firearm in Delaware while addicted to crack cocaine. His sentencing is set to take place later this year, and he faces up to 25 years in prison. As a first-time, nonviolent offender, he will likely get a much lighter sentence. In the meantime, Biden’s attorneys have filed motions for acquittal and a new trial.
Special counsel David Weiss is also prosecuting Hunter Biden on nine federal tax charges in California, with a trial set for September. Biden has pleaded not guilty to the tax charges.
Weiss is simultaneously the U.S. attorney for Delaware and oversaw the Hunter Biden investigation for years before bringing any charges. Before Weiss became special counsel, his office and Hunter Biden’s attorneys agreed to a guilty-plea deal on two tax misdemeanors paired with a pretrial-diversion agreement for a single gun charge. But the plea deal fell apart when Judge Maryellen Noreika expressed skepticism about a prosecutorial-immunity clause inside the diversion agreement.
Before the plea deal imploded, IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler came forward with bombshell allegations that the Justice Department slow-walked and obstructed investigative steps necessary to the Hunter Biden tax case. Shapley and Ziegler have since turned over troves of documents to substantiate their congressional testimony.
One of Shapley and Zielger’s major allegations was the Justice Department’s decision to let the statute of limitations lapse for potential tax charges against Hunter Biden for the 2014 and 2015 tax years. The charges would have been connected to Hunter Biden’s income from Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings.
The Justice Department’s role in the Trump and Hunter Biden prosecutions have given it an unprecedented amount of influence over the 2024 presidential election. In addition, special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents has brought scrutiny to the Justice Department.
Hur declined to recommend criminal charges against Biden, despite Biden’s “willfully” retaining classified information when he was a private citizen. Most notably, Hur’s final report on his investigation noted Biden’s advanced age, 81, and apparent memory problems. Transcripts of Hur’s two-day interview with Biden appear to vindicate his telling of events.
House Republicans held Garland in contempt of Congress two weeks ago over the administration’s refusal to turn over audio recordings from Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Hur.