Trey Gowdy on Hunter Biden charges: I did gun prosecutions for 6 years ... I bet you there weren't 10 cases prosecuted nationwide of addicts or unlawful drugs users who possessed firearms or lied on applications ... which makes you wonder, why are you pursuing this one?"
Isn't that what most normal families do for each other? It will get more interesting, though, when there are Biden’s testifying on both sides of the case. That’s a bit unusual.
But he isn't a real Republican, so we can ignore what he said if it doesn't line up with what we want to be true?
Trey is probably a little off. I pulled a Bureau of Justice Statistics report and posted it in one of the earlier Hunter Biden threads a few months ago. Of all prohibited persons federal investigations between 2000 and 2016, unlawful drug users were about 4% of them (roughly 3,700 unlawful drug user in possession investigations). About 75% of investigated prohibited persons cases are prosecuted. Based on those numbers, average over that 16 year period would be in the ballpark of 175 or so unlawful drug user in possession cases prosecuted per year.
More than the gun purchase, I'd be interested in the international money deals he was making while high on drugs. Even then, though, I'm sure he didn't fall in love with Kim Jong Un, like some people do.
One question. Do you have data indicating how many have been prosecuted as stand alone crimes? It's my understanding that almost all unlawful possession prosecutions including unlawful possession by drug users are usually prosecuted in connection with other charges against the defendant. What makes the Hunter Biden prosecution so unusual is that he is being tried on the sole charge of unlawful possession of a firearm based on his alleged misrepresentation on the Form 4473. My guess is that Hunter's defense will be that he no longer considered himself to be a user when he purchased the gun since he was in a treatment program and stopped using at the time even if he was a user weeks before the purchase and since specific intent is required for a conviction that may be sufficient for a hung jury if not a complete acquittal. FYI: https://www.ncja.org/crimeandjusticenews/few-prosecutions-for-lying-on-atf-gun-purchase-form
NCJA’s stats are a little misleading because they’re looking only at prosecutions for lying on the form. Hunter’s third charge is the actual substantive prohibited person in possession of a firearm offense, which is a more common prosecution than the paperwork offenses NCJA is discussing. That being said, while I don’t have the data, I suspect most are in conjunction with some other charge or investigation if for no other reason than the fact that, in most cases, the way law enforcement becomes aware that a prohibited person is in possession of a firearm is when a search is conducted in connection with something else and a gun is found (think drug stops that turn up a gun, where you frequently see the press releases saying that the search resulted in both substantive drug charges and felon in possession of a firearm). It is certainly unusual circumstances to have the crime come to light from publicly reported stories about someone’s gun purchases and their autobiography about drug addiction.
Curious if anyone can say with a straight face Trump would allow a trial to proceed against Donald Trump Jr or commit to not issuing a pardon.
What's perplexing to me is how this case could tie up DOJ resources for 5 years. A private citizen who may or may not have believed he was an addict at the time he purchased a handgun, with no criminal history, and the gun was not used in a crime or even loaded before being tossed, and as you note was publicly reported. How could this case take this long?
The prosecution of Hunter Biden is an example of the two tier system of justice. If Hunter was anyone else he probably wouldn't have been prosecuted at all on the charge of lying on the application keeping in mind that the gun was never used and was only in his possession for a very short period of time. At the most he would have been allowed to enter into a plea bargain under which he would have received probation. Same for the tax charges. Unlike Hunter Biden in the majority of cases a taxpayer who fails to file a timely tax return and ends up filing late and paying all of his back taxes plus interest and penalties usually isn't prosecuted. The Hunter Biden case illustrates the difference between Democratic and Republican politicians. While a former Republican President constantly claims victimhood and the weaponization of the DOJ a Democratic president and his DOJ to demonstrate their objectivity willingly sacrificed the son of the president to prosecution by a special counsel who was formerly a Republican-appointed US Attorney.
I completely agree, this is an example of a two-tiered system of justice, with JB and Garland bending over backwards not to interfere. The contrast to Republicans interfering in Trump's trials and promises to lock up Democrats for upholding the law, is the reason why democracy is on the ballot.
Guilty verdict just came in. Can’t wait to hear from MAGA about how the courts are still unfair and biased somehow, lol. Live updates: Jury reaches verdict in Hunter Biden gun trial