On Monday, President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden reached a plea agreement with federal authorities in which he will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend probation, while a separate gun charge will probably be dismissed if he meets conditions in a pretrial diversion program.
Time and time again, Republicans have tried to take one piece of salacious or intriguing material related to Hunter Biden and manufacture a narrative of deep criminality.
Time and time again, Republicans have tried to take one piece of salacious or intriguing material related to Hunter Biden and manufacture a narrative of deep criminality by the first son or, worse, public corruption by the 46th president. But they have always spectacularly and embarrassingly failed. This charging agreement provides the capstone to that failure.
To those who consume news exclusively from conservative media or routinely mine the unvetted underground right-wing platforms where innuendo and ignorance are proffered as journalism, Hunter Biden has been more than a recovered addict whose failings were magnified by the political spotlight. He represents the apex of criminality, a member of a crime family that inevitably includes the current president, often referred to by these muckrakers as both treasonous and traitorous.
Sadly, given the state of today’s Republican Party, these muckrakers haven’t simply been confined to shady websites and chatrooms. They’ve been mainstreamed. Former President Donald Trump has frequently but unsuccessfully used Hunter Biden as a political foil. House and Senate Republicans have launched multiple dead-end investigations, and some on Capitol Hill have even filed impeachment charges against the president based in large part on the alleged business dealings of his son.
These probes and attacks have received extensive innuendo-laden coverage from Fox News and other like-minded networks. Very simply, Republican attacks on Hunter Biden remain a critical part of the GOP’s 2024 election strategy.
The problem for Republicans, however, is you can’t just wish upon the nation a historic political controversy where there is none. After a five-year investigation, initiated under Trump’s Justice Department and overseen by two successive Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys, those close to the charging agreement suggest there will be no charges for any other matters in the investigation — no charges related to Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings or to the GOP accusations of corruption or money laundering.
Taken as a whole, today’s charging decision rings of exoneration for Hunter Biden and undercuts the portrait Republicans and conservative media have painted for the last five years. The actual charges are intuitive — a drug addict didn’t timely file his taxes, and he separately lied about his addiction when asked to disclose it to law enforcement. He received probation in large part because he continually cooperated with investigators, repaid his delinquent taxes and agreed to a plea deal rather than fight the investigation. In keeping with his commitment to both truth and recovery, Hunter Biden has accepted responsibility.
Republicans’ entire narrative was crushed — and crushed by Trump appointees. The salacious and fabulous allegations now permanently embedded in their party’s orthodoxy were dismissed as fiction. The question for Republicans now is whether they walk away from the allegations and grievances. It is hard to imagine them doing so. In truth, an entire crop of novice GOP lawmakers has risen to Congress in part by amplifying such conspiracies.
Republicans’ entire narrative was crushed — and crushed by Trump appointees.
But failure to walk away could ultimately contribute to the party’s downfall in 2024. Americans are exhausted by Republicans’ hangups with Hunter Biden. A Politico/Morning Consult poll, for example, found that less than 30% of Americans considered the president’s son’s finances a “top priority” for investigation. Yet GOP leaders routinely embarrass themselves with senseless hyperbole and a cultish reflex to inject Hunter Biden into any political conversation and by consistently hyperventilating over the latest baseless allegations that only serve to remind Americans how out of touch the GOP is with real national priorities.
Republicans would be wise to take the loss on their Hunter Biden probes. The charging agreement filed in federal court is boring, mundane and understandable. And that’s exactly how the American people hope the matter will be treated in the next election.