'GUILTY': GOP both celebrates and downplays Hunter Biden verdict

WASHINGTON – For the Republicans who have long sought to prove wrongdoing by President Joe Biden and his family, Tuesday’s jury decision finding the president’s adult son, Hunter, guilty on all charges was welcome news.

However, the fanfare was somewhat muted – at least, less than one might expect from a Congressional cohort that has been probing the Biden family's business ties for more than a year and with a presidential campaign already in full bloom ahead of November's Election Day.

But now that the trial has concluded, some Republicans are celebrating with carefully-worded statements that appear aimed at avoiding undercutting their own allegation that the Department of Justice has it out for 2024 presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, despite the same system of American justice also convicting the president's son.

Hunter Biden's legal problems have long been top of mind for Republicans. Upon winning the House majority in the 2022 midterms, the GOP's key committee leaders spearheaded an investigation into Hunter Biden’s ties to foreign businesses that got folded into their impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden. They say Joe Biden benefited financially from Hunter Biden’s business deals, but have not unearthed evidence that supports that claim and the inquiry has largely fizzled out.

The federal criminal case that resulted in Hunter Biden's guilty verdict stemmed in part from the drumbeat of complaints from GOP lawmakers in Congress and Trump, whose Justice Department first initiated a probe into Hunter Biden when the Republican was in office. Trump also got impeached by the Democrat-led House in 2019 over his request to Ukraine to investigate the Biden family, though the Senate later acquitted him.

During Hunter Biden's trial last week, Trump and GOP lawmakers remained largely muted on the case, instead focusing on the former president’s felony conviction in May on New York state charges – claiming the justice system was politically targeting Trump.

Things changed on Tuesday with the verdict.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., one of the lawmakers leading the impeachment probe of President Biden, hailed the verdict but said the Justice Department must go further and prosecute other members of Biden’s family.

“Today’s verdict is a step toward accountability but until the Department of Justice investigates everyone involved in the Bidens’ corrupt influence peddling schemes that generated over $18 million in foreign payments to the Biden family, it will be clear department officials continue to cover for the Big Guy, Joe Biden,” Comer said in a statement.

“GUILTY,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, posted on X. “Accountability for the Biden Crime Family is here,” he wrote, before changing it to: “Accountability for the Biden Crime Family at last?”

Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., said he’s “glad to see that justice has been served.”

“Nobody is above the law, including the President’s son," Brecheen added.

Others though claimed, without evidence, the verdict was a distraction from Trump’s conviction earlier this month. “Timing is everything. This is the veil of fairness in the Justice System under (Biden)” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., one of nearly 20 people mentioned as a potential Trump vice presidential pick, wrote on X.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote: "Never forget DOJ tried to avoid this trial & verdict by giving Hunter a sweetheart plea deal. Until the judge exposed them," referencing a plea deal that fell apart when U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika raised concerns about the agreement.

"The Hunter Biden gun conviction is kinda dumb (to be honest)," quipped Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt in a statement said: "This trial has been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family, which has raked in tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia and Ukraine. Crooked Joe Biden’s reign over the Biden Family Criminal Empire is all coming to an end on November 5th, and never again will a Biden sell government access for personal profit."

Her comment contrasted with comments from Trump's former National Security Adviser Kash Patel, who in his own statement said that the verdict is "a rare example of constitutional justice, one not where individuals receive biased treatment based on their last name."

"The jury was able to consider the prosecution and the defense evidence in full, in accordance with due process. A right that was single handedly bastardized against President Trump by the judge, jury and prosecutors in the New York," Patel said. "Biden’s conviction demonstrates a fleeting moment of justice for all."

Biden was charged with falsely claiming that he was not using illegal drugs when he bought a Colt revolver in 2018, and for illegally possessing that gun for 11 days after he bought it.

The trial – which has dovetailed with his father’s re-election bid and Trump’s historic conviction – has included deeply personal testimony and evidence from a period of Biden’s life in which he was struggling with addiction to crack cocaine.

The prosecution sought to show that Biden had recently used drugs or was addicted to drugs when he filled out a gun application claiming that he was drug-free.

Biden’s attorneys have argued that he did not consider himself an addict when he bought the gun and have said there is no evidence to show that he was using crack in the days leading up to the purchase, though jurors did see text messages in which Biden says he was smoking crack the day after.

Biden could face up to 25 years in prison for the charges, though legal experts have said he’s likely to get less than the maximum sentence given he's a first-time and nonviolent offender.

Hunter Biden's conviction comes more than a week after Trump was found guilty on 34 charges related to falsifying business documents to cover up a sexual encounter with porn star Stormy Daniels in the lead up to the 2016 election.

As Biden's trial began last week, Republicans in Congress maintained focus on Trump's conviction, which was animating voters and prompting an influx of donations to Trump's campaign and the House and Senate GOP campaign arms.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told USA TODAY that Trump's 34-count felony conviction angered their base, and they're concentrated on how GOP voters are feeling in the unprecedented moment. Hunter Biden also faces a second tax-related trial later this year.

"Republicans and independents are so angry about the miscarriage of justice that occurred when former President Donald Trump was found guilty," she said. "That's what motivating and energizing Republicans and independents. So, changing the subject from what has them riled up to something about Hunter Biden – nope, doesn't matter, it's immaterial."

Multiple lawmakers said they thought Biden would get a fair trial, despite raising concerns that Trump's was politically-motivated. But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told HuffPost, "I don't think the average American would have been charged with the gun thing" that Biden was charged with.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hunter Biden guilty verdict sparks mixed reaction among GOP