House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer and a host of fellow prominent Republicans savaged the Department of Justice on Tuesday over the news that Hunter Biden will likely avoid jail time despite being charged with illegally possessing a firearm and failing to pay taxes for two consecutive years.
“Let’s be clear: the Department of Justice’s charges against President Biden’s son Hunter reveal a two-tiered system of justice. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery,” the Kentucky Republican wrote in a statement released Tuesday morning.
“These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee’s investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes are revealed.”
Former president Donald Trump took to his social-media platform, Truth Social, to condemn the DOJ’s leniency. “People are going wild over the Hunter Biden Scam with the DOJ!” the Republican presidential frontrunner wrote.
His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., also denounced the deal, saying it “reeks of favoritism.”
“If you are a Republican, Biden’s DOJ will throw the book at you and try to put you in prison for 100 years,” the former president’s eldest son told Scripps News. “But if you happen to have the right last name like Hunter, they will protect you and treat you with kid gloves.”
Jonathan Turley, a political commentator and law professor at George Washington University, echoed the sentiment. “Years of investigation into Hunter appear to have evaded any serious inquiry into the influence peddling operation of the Biden family. For critics, it will be like ticketing the get-away driver after a bank hold up,” the constitutional law expert wrote.
Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy called the plea deal “a joke.”
“It’s a feigned retreat & reveals they’re even more scared than ever of scrutiny for the real crimes,” the tech entrepreneur added. “The real target is the audio tapes of the alleged bribe for Hunter & Joe Biden from the Ukrainian executive of oligarch-owned Burisma. And the hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer funds kicked back to Ukraine to make good on the favor. Don’t buy the deflection, it’s just a smokescreen.”
Ben Shapiro, a Harvard Law alum and co-founder of The Daily Wire, poked fun at the ruling. “Remember folks, you — a law abiding citizen owning a gun — are a danger to the republic. Hunter Biden, a crack addict who lied on gun forms, and whose then-girlfriend threw his gun in a dumpster across from a high school, barely did anything wrong.”
Mehdi Hasan, a political commentator at MSNBC, satrizied the conservative response to the plea deal.
“A Trump appointed prosecutor led the investigation into Hunter Biden. Will ‘dictator’ Joe Biden now appoint a prosecutor to investigate Jared Kushner? Isn’t that what should happen now, per the GOP view of the world? Right? Right??”