(LifeSiteNews) — U.S. President Joe Biden’s son Hunter has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges in exchange for avoiding prosecution for a felony gun charge that carries a maximum sentence of ten years behind bars.
Conservatives have argued the arrangement shows the Department of Justice is protecting the Biden family as emerging evidence suggests Joe and Hunter engaged in overseas influence peddling and corruption.
According to a Tuesday court filing by U.S. Attorney David Weiss in Delaware, Hunter Biden, 53, will enter a guilty plea for misdemeanor charges related to his failure to file and pay about $1.2 million in taxes on time in 2017 and 2018 when he is arraigned in federal court next week. Hunter’s attorney has stated the DOJ found he has since paid off his tax debts in full.
In exchange, he will enter into a “diversion” agreement to avoid felony prosecution for illegal purchase and possession of a Colt Cobra revolver in 2018 while he was an “unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance.”
Hunter, who has been the subject of a years-long investigation, is expected to complete two years of probation for the gun-related felony and avoid prison time altogether. Following the completion of his probation, he could see the gun charge removed from his record entirely.
Axios noted that U.S. Attorney Weiss has been in charge of the investigation since the Trump administration, and that the Biden DOJ decided to leave him in place “to try to avoid appearing to influence the investigation.”
However, the decision not to replace Weiss hasn’t calmed conservatives’ suspicions that the Biden DOJ is letting the president’s son off easy with a “sweetheart deal” and covering up larger crimes allegedly committed by the Biden family while exerting the full force of federal law enforcement to prosecute those on the right, including former U.S. President Donald Trump himself.
Looks like Hunter received a sweetheart deal and is not facing any charges on the massive corruption allegations. If Hunter was not connected to the elite DC class he would have been put in jail a long time ago. pic.twitter.com/tZcZOY1uST
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 20, 2023
READ: Donald Trump pleads ‘not guilty’ to 37 charges brought by Biden DOJ
“Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere traffic ticket,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Our system is BROKEN!”
“Hunter gets ‘diverted’ charge on felony gun crime. Two misdemeanors on failing to file taxes. He won’t spend a day in prison,” reacted conservative podcaster Buck Sexton. “Totally special treatment. The fix is in.”
“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,” said U.S. House Republican Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee.
Republicans in the House Oversight Committee have been looking into the allegedly shady financial dealings committed by Joe and Hunter Biden in foreign countries, in which the Biden family is suspected of trading political influence for cash.
The scandalous contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop, initially covered up and censored as “Russian misinformation,” include a trove of emails and texts suggesting the Biden family raked in millions of dollars from globe-trotting influence-peddling schemes allegedly carried out by members of the Biden family including Hunter.
An FBI informant file based on an interview with a “highly credible” confidential source and recently reviewed by lawmakers alleges that, in June 2020, Joe Biden took a $5 million bribe from an executive of Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings, of which Hunter was a board member.
Biden is referred to in the filing as the “big guy,” a name also reportedly used to refer to him in a 2017 email from Hunter Biden to a Chinese businessman. In the email, retrieved from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop, the younger Biden allegedly asked for 10% for “the big guy,” which former Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski said was a nickname for Joe Biden.
RELATED: Evidence emerges suggesting Joe Biden talked to Hunter about his ‘business dealings’
It’s unclear whether further charges will be levied against Hunter Biden following next week’s arraignment.
In a statement to NBC, Hunter Biden’s attorney, Chris Clark, said that, “[w]ith the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved.”
However, Weiss has disputed that interpretation, declaring that “[t]he investigation is ongoing.”
In a brief statement Tuesday, reacting to the news of the plea deal, White House spokesman Ian Sams said “[t]he President and first lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment.”