Hunter Biden will face a slew of charges this week that could land him in jail and again distract from the public face his father is crafting on the campaign trail.
While President Joe Biden has been careful not to comment on the litany of charges facing former President Donald Trump, he likes to make the case that he represents decency, morality, and respect for justice.
“Together, we can keep proving that America is still a country that believes in decency, dignity, honesty, honor, truth,” Biden said in remarks honoring the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. “We still believe that no one, not even the president, is above the law.”
That message is undermined when the president’s son is accused of cheating on his taxes and ignoring a congressional subpoena as part of the House’s impeachment inquiry into allegations of Biden family foreign influence peddling.
Two House committees have introduced legislation that would hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress over his failure to comply with a subpoena and are expected to vote on them Wednesday. The next day, the younger Biden will appear in a Los Angeles courtroom to be arraigned on three felony and six misdemeanor tax charges.
Each of those developments will keep Hunter Biden in the news cycle this week, and future developments, such as a potential full House vote on the contempt charges, will do so again as the election year proceeds.
“We’ll see what happens when that goes to the attorney general,” House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures. “But that would be his call. But I do think there was support in the House, certainly in the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee, to pass that contempt resolution, and then it’ll go to the House floor, I think, quickly thereafter.”
Democrats and the White House insist that the Hunter Biden saga is unrelated to his father’s actions as president or his previous run as vice president, arguing that the president’s continued embrace of his son shows that he’s a loving, devoted parent.
But the tax and contempt charges may put Joe Biden in an awkward position on multiple fronts.
For one, if the House does pass contempt charges, it would be up to the Biden administration’s Department of Justice to decide whether or not to prosecute.
If the DOJ does not do so, Republicans will likely argue that the president is using his powers to shield his son, advancing claims of a two-tiered system of justice that sees Trump facing prison time while Hunter Biden and other Democratic figures get a slap on the wrist.
The tax charges also could raise thorny questions, as Hunter Biden stands accused of evading taxes while his father insists the rich should pay their fair share, and Trump has faced tax-related charges himself.
Similarly, Hunter Biden is separately facing gun charges as the White House pushes for stricter firearms control. His defense team cited the Supreme Court’s New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen ruling from 2022, which struck down a more than 100-year-old New York law restricting firearm possession, in a December filing to argue his gun charge was unconstitutional.
The president, however, has said he was “deeply disappointed” by the Bruen ruling.
The biggest question may be to what extent the public sees Joe Biden being tied to his son’s actions. Despite his insistence that he was never involved, a November poll from the Harvard Center for American Political Studies found that 60% of respondents believe Joe Biden participated in some way in Hunter Biden’s business.
The White House, Biden campaign, and DOJ did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.
Jordan says the contempt charge could carry a prison sentence of up to a year, and it could play a role in impeachment proceedings later this year, which are largely centered on the Hunter Biden-Joe Biden relationship.
Jordan said his sentencing prediction is based on how Attorney General Merrick Garland handled prosecution against Trump administration officials Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, again drawing a link between Joe Biden and his predecessor.
“Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Jordan said in a joint statement. “We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name.”
Joe Biden has not shied away from being seen with his son as the controversies pile up and has arguably kept him closer as his first term wears on. The pair spent several days together in December, and Hunter Biden was an unannounced guest on a Marine One flight back to the White House on Dec. 19.
“Obviously, the president is very close to his family,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked about Hunter Biden accompanying his father. “As it relates to the holidays, he spends, obviously, every holiday with his family. I just don’t have a list of names [aboard Marine One] to share with you at this time.”
