Michael Ramirez Essay: Up In Smoke
From America's Premier Editorial Cartoonist
By Michael Ramirez, September 17, 2023
ILL WILL HUNTING
Hunter Biden was indicted on gun charges by Special Counsel David Weiss on Thursday. He was charged with two counts for lying on a federal gun permit form and one for illegal gun possession. Hunter foolishly took photos of himself holding a gun while he was apparently using drugs. Then authorities found another gun, a revolver he illegally purchased from a dealer in Delaware while he was using cocaine that his brother’s widow disposed of in a trash can outside a supermarket in Greenville. At the time, Hunter and the widow were dating.
That sounds more like the plot from Hangover IV.
Many critics of this indictment claim that these types of violations are rarely charged. That is true. Most of these charges are negotiated away in plea bargains.
A 2018 GAO report evaluating statistics surrounding falsifying information on firearms forms titled: “LAW ENFORCEMENT. Few Individuals Denied Firearms Purchases Are Prosecuted and ATF Should Assess Use of Warning Notices in Lieu of Prosecutions” showed:
“Federal and selected state law enforcement agencies that process firearm-related background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) collectively investigate and prosecute a small percentage of individuals who falsify information on a firearms form (e.g., do not disclose a felony conviction) and are denied a purchase. Federal NICS checks resulted in about 112,000 denied transactions in fiscal year 2017, of which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) referred about 12,700 to its field divisions for further investigation. U.S. Attorney’s Offices (USAO) had prosecuted 12 of these cases as of June 2018.”
Hunter’s case would have been the same… had he not abandoned his plea agreement. When he realized that there were other charges that Weiss was still actively investigating that were not covered by the plea deal, he backed out. That was a big mistake.
Hunter did not consider his father’s reelection campaign when he rejected the plea deal. That’s not too surprising. President Biden has been one of the most vocal advocates for imposing more gun control and restrictions. It would be the height of hypocrisy for them to now give Hunter a pass.
Hunter has a history of showing a lack of deference to his father.
He knew using drugs might jeopardize his father’s political ambitions. He did it anyway.
He knew being on the board of Burisma might convey an appearance of corruption. He did it anyway.
He knew that cashing in on his familial position by bandying his father’s name about might reinforce this appearance of corruption. He did it anyway.
He knew selling “art” for large sums of money might appear like selling influence to the average Joe (but not President Joe), but even that didn’t matter to Hunter. Hunter didn’t care. He took the money and ran.
For Hunter, the worst is still yet to come. Investigators are carefully combing through his finances to see where $20 million in foreign payments to Biden-associated enterprises all went. The investigation into his taxes continues, and there is still the matter of the gun charges.
I am certain Hunter hopes that an August ruling by a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit of Appeals, U.S. vs. Patrick Darnell Daniels Jr., may insulate him from these gun charges. Good luck with that. The Court’s interpretation of New York State Rifle and Pistol Association vs. Bruen is that there is no mention of potheads in the historical tradition of firearm regulation; it only covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
The larger issue will be where the trail of money leads. As I have said, freeloading off foreign entities because of familial relationships does not necessarily constitute a crime. It may be unethical, unscrupulous, slimy, and corrupt, but without a direct exchange resulting in services, it is not against the law. However, not paying taxes on it, hiding it, or sheltering it offshore certainly is.
Sometimes, it's life that imitates art. Hunter may find his integrity to be like that Banksy painting of “Girl with Balloon” that automatically shredded itself as soon as it was auctioned off. It may appear to be worth millions to some, but everyone else knows the value.
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