Charles C. W. Cooke had a post this week that said everything that ought to be said about why it would be fitting to prosecute Hunter Biden’s apparent making of a false statement on the required firearms application form. I want to add a few points about prosecutorial discretion, the potential of an additional gun crime, and our two-tiered justice system.
The Politico story Charlie cites stresses that prosecutions arising out of false statements on Form 4473 are rare. As Charlie rightly observes, that in itself is a problem (a point Kevin D. Williamson also made a few days ago). Still, it is worth widening the lens beyond the narrow false-statements provision in the gun laws because the government actually prosecutes false statements all the time.
There is a general false-statements statute (Section 1001 of the penal code) which can be applied any time someone makes a false statement, including a material omission, to some branch, department, or agency of the federal government. Then there are false statements charges that apply to particular subject-matter areas, such as firearms or taxes. Hence, we have Section 922(a)(6), which, as Charlie explained, applies to false statements made in connection with the acquisition or attempted acquisition of a firearm.
The fact that these narrowly tailored false-statements statutes are invoked more rarely should not be taken to mean that false-statements prosecutions are infrequent. They are not. And a good many false statements that result in indictments involve situations markedly less serious than lying to conceal a disqualification from firearms possession — especially under circumstances where, due to the lie, the disqualified person succeeded in obtaining a gun (and then was lax in safeguarding it).
In the Mueller investigation, for instance, Michael Flynn was prosecuted for misdescribing a conversation, indicative of no misconduct, of which the FBI had a recording and therefore no need to question him. George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan were prosecuted for false statements about the dates of meetings, and in neither situation was an investigation impeded — much less were the prevaricators, thereby, able to acquire dangerous weapons.
Moreover, it would be misleading for Biden apologists to claim that the rarity of prosecution means the Justice Department regards false statements on the firearms form to be a trifling matter. To be sure, there should be more prosecutions. But when there are prosecutions, the Justice Department trumpets them. Check out, for example this 2018 press release, entitled, “Convicted Felon Indicted for Making False Statements on a Federal Background Check while Attempting to Purchase a Firearm.” In that case, the government charged both the general false-statements offense and the more specific false-statements offense related to firearms. The statement issued by the U.S. attorney for Western Tennessee, who brought the case, is worth quoting:
Prosecutions of violent crimes must be paired with proactive prevention efforts to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and other prohibited persons. A valuable tool in this prevention effort is the ATF Background Check Form 4473, which must be completed before a federally licensed firearms dealer sells or transfers a firearm. Criminals and other prohibited persons who attempt to thwart the background check process by lying on the required forms threaten to undermine this important crime prevention tool, and such conduct cannot be tolerated. . . . Let this serve as a warning: This office will vigorously prosecute any prohibited persons who attempt to illegally obtain a firearm in these “lie-and-try” cases.
Big talk . . . but will the Justice Department back it up when the matter involves a Democrat with unparalleled connections and no shortage of press sympathy? A Democrat who did not merely “lie-and-try” but, it appears, lied and . . . got the gun.
On that last point, there is a second potential felony gun offense at issue. Section 922(g)(3) of the penal law makes it a crime, also punishable by ten years’ imprisonment, for a person who is an unlawful user of narcotics to receive or possess a firearm or ammunition. (Note: Politico reports that Hunter Biden told police he used the gun in question for target practice.) Hunter, of course, has notorious drug-abuse issues. Narcotics use has factored into a number of his escapades, and the Daily Mail reported that recreational drug use appeared to be depicted in video images stored on his laptop computers (the ones the press wouldn’t cover in the weeks before Election Day).
Hunter Biden was also kicked out of the U.S. Navy in 2014 for cocaine use. Consistent with the special treatment to which he is accustomed, the son of the then-vice president of the United States was permitted to be separated from the Navy administratively, rather than be dishonorably discharged.
That’s worth noting because another provision in the federal gun laws, Section 922(g)(6), makes it a ten-year felony for a person to possess a firearm if he “has been discharged from the armed forces under dishonorable conditions.” Technically, Hunter’s administrative separation probably spares him that status. Nevertheless, for a prosecutor responsible for exercising discretion regarding whether Hunter Biden should be charged with making a false statement, it would weigh heavily that a) he actually got a gun due to the false statement, b) the gun was temporarily lost because of the negligent way in which it was kept, and c) his mere receipt and possession of the gun (indeed, of even the ammunition, apart from the gun) was likely a separate felony offense under at least one other provision of the gun laws.
Finally, even if it were true that false-statements charges were rare, our response, under the Mueller standards that Democrats cheered during the Trump years, ought to be: So what?
As I related in Ball of Collusion, in the half-century prior to Donald Trump’s election, the Justice Department prosecuted violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) just seven times, winning only three convictions (one at trial and two by guilty plea; of the other four, two cases were dismissed and two were disposed of on non-FARA charges). The fact that such prosecutions were rare made no difference to the Obama/Biden Justice Department, the FBI, or the Mueller probe. For criminal-enforcement purposes, FARA became the backbone of the Trump-Russia investigation, even though not a single person connected to the probe — including Paul Manafort, who was convicted of conspiring to violate FARA in connection with his Ukraine work — was ever alleged to be a foreign agent of Russia.
The basis for a criminal investigation of Hunter Biden, aspects of which I discussed in last weekend’s column, was already considerable before the sudden emergence of the apparent false statement on the firearms form. Though the latter is serious in its own right, we should not allow it to overshadow the former. Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed that there would be a single standard of justice, applied to all Americans, with politics kept out of prosecutorial decision-making. The day for testing the sincerity of that commitment is fast approaching.
Seems to me that if Hunter Biden deserves prosecution, Papa Lyin’ Hiden Joe Biden clearly also should be prosecuted.????
Hunter is a humanoid ( demonrat) he won’t be prosecuted. The f b i & the c i a r both owned by them. He’ll never br charged like hilterly. Bill being informed by loretta on the tarmac. When the corrupt r in power u wind up like 3rd world countries ( south America)
Lol! While everything cited in the article is perfectly true, as far as the various laws are concerned, does anyone honestly think that Joe Biden’s DOJ or FBI are going to treat his son Hunter like you or me or any other average American? Lets get real here. Hunter is running around on all the talk shows, hawking his book and having a grand old time, because he knows full well he won’t be charged with a thing. The fix was in as soon as Biden won the Democrat nomination and the swamp went into full “protect the Biden family” mode.
The FBI will likely drag their so-called investigation of Hunter out for a few more months, for appearances sake, before quietly announcing, on some late Friday afternoon, that they found NOTHING that Hunter could be criminally charged with. Nothing to see peons. Now move along. Maybe Biden will even get AG Garland to issue a brief statement saying Hunter is no longer being investigated for anything as well, just to put a cherry on top of it all. The point being that Hunter Biden and by extension his father, the POTUS, will get a “free get out of jail card”. Nicely written article though.
THE CANCEROUS, ANTI-AMERICAN, LYING libs ARE NEVER PROSECUTED; LAWS MEAN NOTHING TO them
The whole O’Biden cartel, and all his immediate minions who surround and protect him, need to be imprisoned for Treason.
Prosecuting Democrats that have lied and slandered, might win elections for Republicans. I do not know why Republicans do not prosecute Dems on a whole sale basis. There are many that should be in jail.
Ain’t life a puzzle. Yeah, Hunter Biden, based on factual news already public, should be prosecuted for criminal activity. But his old man, Hidin’ Joe Biden is an even bigger crook … and he is the elected POTUS who is unable and unqualified to serve any important business or governmental decision. I imagine the entire free World and Communist world is laughing their heads off, not to mention scurrying around all the ways they can take advantage of the USA … especially China.
I agree there should be only one standard for all people reguardless of who you know or who your parents are. Just look at how Ted Kennedy got away with murder because of his family name.
If Hunter Biden were you or I, he’d be in jail! … Case closed, fellow peons.
Amazing the corruption in the Federal Judicial system———————–Never prosecute the Clintons, the Bidens, the Obamas, and the list goes on and on!!! Just pay your taxes and watch the corruption flow freely !!!!!! What a royal screwing———————————–
As much as I don’t respect Beijing Biden and his son, as a retired attorney, I have big problems with the gun laws concerning convicted felons. The law should read convicted of a VIOLENT felony. I had a secretary who ran a stop sign, she didn’t see, in a blinding rain storm killing another driver. She was convicted of manslaughter, a felony. Should this woman have been prohibited from owning a gun to protect herself? I think NOT, but she was. This law needs to be changed. A felony can be anything from a large bad check to armed robbery, and it varies from state to state.
When you do wrong, it will eventually come back and bite you on the rear! If you broke the law, then you must deal with the consequences despite who you aren’t who you think you are!!
Will Hunter face prosecution, I think not. But if his last name was Trump, he’d already be in jail !!
Dem-o-rats seem to be above the law.
IS THIS A JOKE? HUNTER BIDEN? YOU WILL DIE IF YOU HOLD YOUR BREATHE WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN. HE IS “PROTECTED” JUST LIKE HILLARY AND A BOXCAR OF OTHER ELITISTS. HAS HE “UNWOUND” HIMSELF FROM THE UKRAINE DEBACLE? HEY JEN HOW ABOUT AN UPDATE! HE SAYS THE LAPTOP(FROM ALMOST 18 MONTHS AGO) MAY BE HIS. FBI WHERE ARE YOU? AS IN CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU. SEX,DRUGS,ROCK&ROLL AND HUNTER BIDEN. PARTY ON!
because his father is so call president and he is demon possess guy in the white house when a demon possess person is in the leadership guess where this nation is headed the Antichrist will take over and when the Antichrist is taking full control all hell will break loose.
Hunter Biden is a grown ass man; always acting like a child. He is a middle aged man with 5 kids. He is a son of great privilege and an awful man. A forever FOOL…
The Citizens faith in justice will only occur when some of these elites,politicians and their cronies start being convicted.
We need true equal justice under the law, and the taxpayers should NOT provide money for their legal defense.
Nobody pays the Citizens attorney’s and these people work for us.
No more exempting themselves from ANY laws they pass.
Don’t blame me. I voted for Trump!
Hunter Biden should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law both for his lying on the form to obtain a gun and for being involved in the China, etc. schemes raising money for himself and his family including his father.
These criminals just walk away with no charges. There is no excuse for this. He’s done so many things along with his parent and nothing done. What the hell is going on?
Hunter Biden is protected like all the other members of the Biden crime family. Therefore, he will never be in the defendant seat.
American justice is no more. Elites, deep swamp, demo politicians, and of course Hillary, Bill, Clapper, Comey etal are home free. And our man in Connecticut remains silent.
As long as the Demonrats, and the fake news media are in control of the air waves, the Biden crime family will continue Pillage, Rob, Extort money from Foreign Countries and Lie to the American People, unless we wise up and rise up, America is in it’s final days.
God Save America !!
If after all of the MANY illegal, immoral, & dishonorably reprehensible things’ Hunter Biden has done down through the years…and he has ‘not’ been prosecuted for any of them by now, just what do you think the chances are that he will ever come under any sort of consequences for them now, or ever? Rather, it appears he’s been, in fact, REWARDED MONETARILY for his ‘deeds’!
Does anyone seriously think that Hunter Biden will ever have to face justice for his crimes while Dementia Dad is minding (sarcasm intended) the store? Of course not! The so-called (and self-anointed) Elites will continue to take care of themselves and their own, including their cronies. Even Hillary hasn’t been charged with anything yet, despite the widespread public knowledge of her email server scandal and its attendant violation of Federal laws!
I continue to believe that there are two different ststems of justice in this country. One for Republicans and conservatives and another for democrats and other traitors
IF he were to go to prison, he would be kept in a cell away from the rest in there. Probably a cell with all comforts…..for those with $$$. Then he would be let out far sooner than any other prisoner on “GOOD BEHAVIOR”. He will hav found God, and turned his life over. Ya, a bunch off B.S.
The DOJ and the FBI have become a joke as far as actually fighting crime and enforcing laws in our country. They have become so obviously political that they are useless in ensuring the American people feel any sense of fairness, justice or equal treatment under the law. They only inspire fear of retribution by the Democrats upon Americans who don’t agree with the Dem Dogma.
There is no justice dept anymore. NO biden will ever be prosecuted for anything at anytime.
??? The salient question? Why are we still seeing “news stories” about people with high political connections not being prosecuted like an ordinary citizen would be? Does anyone actually believe that our judicial system is a single tiered one that we can all trust?
Hunter Biden is just one more example of our outrageous “Justice System”. Nevertheless, I suggest that there is a worse wrongdoer walking freely among us. Hillary R. Clinton is suspected of doing many criminal deeds, but her behavior while she was Secretary of State proves that lady justice is not the only blind figure in our court systems.
Hilary Clinton violated the National Security Act by sending, and receiving emails that contained sensitive government information over a four-year period. James Comey, then Director of the F.B.I., announced on national TV in July of 2016 that Hillary’s private email sever was used to communicate
(8) confidential, (36) secret and (8) top secret messages in the 30,000 emails that she turned over to the F.B.I. Another subpoenaed 33,000 emails were erased because they “only contained cookie recipes, and wedding dress discussions”.
Each of these email violations could result in a jail term opf 5-years. Some of the emails contained separate violations, EACH of which could be prosecuted as being separate counts. If convicted, Hillary was subject to consecutive jail terms totaling over 150 years! At least five Federal Attorney Generals have considered what James Comey exposed since July 2016. All of them declined to seek an indictment for Hillary Clinton. By the way, there is no statute of limitations for serious violations of the National Security Act.
Hunter Biden? He doesn’t come close to doing the damage that Hillary Clinton did to the American people. Hillary actually divulged a secret that was so highly classified that the F.B.I. investigators lacked a high enough clearance to review it. Hillary described a satellite photo of an area of a country that is hostile to American interests. Problem? That country did not know that we had a satellite positioned over its territory!
Not shocking enough? OK, consider the story of a C.I.A. “asset” who was employed in an Iranian nuclear research facility. Hillary disclosed his name, and that he was one of our spies, in one of her emails. After hours of “intimate inquiries”, the hapless wretch was summarily executed.
I’m pretty sure that Hillary has blood on her hands, you know, the same hands that plunged a knife into our collective backs.
Apparently, the job of U.S. Attorney General stipulates that the job seeker has to understand who you can prosecute, and who is a V.I.P. that one must not touch.
We all know ( at least those of us with a brain)that democrats are slippery and slimy and will not be prosecuted for any nor all their crimes, It all gets washed away and or re directed away from them. Look at BOTH Clintons if they get investigated the pursuer gets “suicided” my term for Clinton induced suicide. When actually was a Democrat investigated, let alone convicted for any of their shenagins???
At a time when the democrats are seriously trying to violate the 2nd Amendment with new gun laws and are really pushing for increased background checks and more strict registration laws, it would seem to be hypocritical for them to condone Hunter Biden’s lying on a gun-related official document or any kind. Change the name to Hunter Smith and see how fast there would be an indictment.
America NEEDS to DEMAND a hand RECOUNT of the 2021 Election and results there of put into place, NO fricking way this idoit was elected even with all the never Trumpets, WE WANT AND DESERVE AMERICA BACK!!!!!
Far more serious crimes were committed by hunter and “the big guy” as well as schiff, pelosi, nadler, schumer, the clintons and half the people working in government agencies, which should have been prosecuted BEFORE the election tha would have SAVED AMERICA FROM THE DELIBERATE DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA GOING ON BECAUSE SMALL MINDED POLITICIANS CAN’T SEE PAST THE BAGS OF DIRTY MONEY THEY GET FOR COMMITTING TREASON!!! MAGA!!!
PROVE VOTER FRAUD AND PUT THE PEOPLE IN OFFICE WE ACTUALLY VOTED FOR!!!!
Do you really think H Biden will be persecuted? Think again. Hillary’s case is now being forgotten and we have not seen any persecution yet. I am getting tired of all these accusations without seeing justice done. It’s getting frustrationg.
About as likely as prosecuting the Clinton crime family.
Why in the world isn’t anyone stepping forward and prosecute this turkey? What else is needed?
Prosecute him and impeach his father, then Harris, then Pelosi!
There is nothing but words about everything. They laugh at all of you and just continue on destroying America. This is a war on freedom in America and if everyone does join together to fight this they will win. Most of America has no idea of government or get the truth about anything that is going on. So until you can force the media to tell the truth what chance do you have with words that do not reach the people who have no idea.
they are going to prosecute him for filling out a form wrong when he’s sold out his father and himself to china, to socialism, to communism. SOOOOOOOO BLINDDDDD! Ethics, Morals, Integrity …… ALL GONE!
The old question “Where’s Hunter?” has been answered… he was on under-cover assignment for an undisclosed house-cleaning service. Sniffing parmesan out of carpets.
Meanwhile, authorities with their double standards are awaiting Democratic favorite media star attorney Michael Avenatti to be available to defend Hunter’s virtue.
How ironic… the Democratic socialist/Marxists are in favor of abolishing the 2nd [right to bear arms] and the 22nd Amendments [limiting presidents to two terms]… but continue to enjoy the two-tiered administration of justice. Do as I say, ignore what I do! The only sensible answer is to apply the 22nd Amendment to ALL politicians! Two terms, and you’re OUT! Same pension rights as ordinary Americans.
Not sure I understand the reasoning behind this article anyway, since the DOJ is Biden’s hand-picked cronies! Can we actually expect any type of justice be brought down during this administration? Furthermore, guess what, if they were to go ahead & pull-off a “pretend” trial, play it out & arrive at a pre-planned “not guilty” verdict, he could never be tried for the same crime again. I’ve got to say, in every thing the left does, they are simply smarter than us; we should be so proud!
Nothing will be done. It’s all talk and no action. Many “ important people “ write articles , go on Tv and pontificate about the rule of law. The rule of law is gone, just look at what happened to Ashley Babbit, rules for me, not for thee. America is gone, I am so sad to say.
People lie for personal gain and have no other motivation than to personally benefit oneself at the expense of others for whom they don’t care in the least.
The Biden’s are in this class and it is quite evident they care only about their personal gain. Their disrespect and disobedience of the Constitution is very obvious. They have no regard for anyone else.
No democrat will ever be investigated, nor charged and tried, for any criminal act. I have lost any and all faith in our system of “justice” following how the Clinton’s have never been charged with their many, many crimes, the way Trump and his cohorts were treated, how all this info on Hunter Biden has been disclosed with no action, and now the democrats want to pack the Supreme Court. Follow that with all the evidence of election fraud that no court was willing to even hear, and the backlash to the state of Georgia for passing common sense election integrity measures, and you have to ask yourself, are we no longer a nation of laws? I say we are not as long as you’re one of the elites.
At one point in time, we could as Americans protest as we did during the Vietnam war and change the course of history. The government listened and withdrew the troops. Now, government doesn’t listen to the people. Government is too big and is full of ideologies. Our government will soon take over our country and become socialistic and no longer listen at all to the people. It has placated the people with money dropping from the sky like candy. It will take a war civil or a war external before we wake up and shake the foundations and go back to our roots and the Constitution. It is sad when people do not believe history. I believe history happened and I learn from history I have listened to my elders youth today does not listen to the elders. One cannot play nice with the Democrats. They are bullies. One must always be suspect of those who say one thing and do another.
Democrats are Socialists. They will suck us dry, spend all tax-payer monies, turn our country over to those who came illegally just to stomp on American Citizens, what we privately own will be forced out of our hands. We’ll be watching Hollywood celebrities devouring their pets (like Venezuela and others) and calling it “CHIC!”
It will never happen. He has too much money.