Hunter Biden gets Indicted...

[Art]

...on three firearms violations.

They had do do it quick because the Statute of Limitations was going to run out at the end of the month.

This is going to get REALLY interesting. There is still other stuff out there waiting for him including violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act which the DOJ had no problem sending Paul Manifort up the river for in the Trump administration. Then the door could be open to looking into the involvement the President claimed he didn't have in his son's business.

The DOJ was obviously shamed into this and the next steps are going to be really fascinating. For example, will the defense claim the law he was indicted under is an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment. That has been argued before. The fly in the buttermilk there is nobody has been a bigger proponent of gun control laws than old "Sleepy Joe" Biden.

I won't to see Garland answer questions on this .

Biden could pardon his son but pardons for personal convenience like this usually happen when the POTUS is walking out the door, Bill Clinton's half brother comes to mind.

I suspect some Dems, maybe most Dems, look on this as a blessing in disguise because if shoes drop that incriminate Joe Biden it could influence him not to run and they could slide in a "replacement player."

[Allen]

What charges can a president NOT pardon? Is it limited to murder and such?

[Art]

What charges can a president NOT pardon? Is it limited to murder and such?

He can pardon anyone (including himself) for any Federal charge including murders charged in Federal court. His authority in this area is unlimited. He can even pardon a person pro actively as Gerald Ford did in the case of Richard Nixon. He may not, however, pardon charges brought in state courts which is the primary reason IMHO for the charges brought against Donald Trump in New York City and Atlanta.

Oh, on Atlanta. Two of Trumps co defendants have asked for and received permission for a speedy trial which means they have to be tried next month. This does two things beneficial to Trump. First it will push his case back for months, at least while these two are being tried, and, possibly even more importantly for Trump, his lawyers will get a chance to see the whole case against him in a real trial. That has to help with planning a defense. Other defendants can ask for a speedy trial on or before Nov. 1 under Georgia law as I understand it (I could be wrong.) If they do and get it they could tie the Atlanta DA up in court for a very long time. I also understand that failure to try a person who demands a speedy trial within the time limits will result in an automatic acquital.

[Allen]

Thanks for the info.

Good for Trump. It sounds like he has some good lawyers finally.

The rules on pardons sounds like something the Gestapo would write.

[Art]

The rules on pardons sounds like something the Gestapo would write.

Yep, except the writers were people like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Most states don't give governors that kind of power. For example in Texas the governor cannot pardon anyone unless the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles signs off on it. Georgia is one of the few states in which the Governor doesn't have the power to issue any clemency at all and that includes commutations, not just pardons. So if you're counting on the Governor of Georgia to give you a get out of jail free card you're out of luck.

One little correction to my first post. The President does not have the power to vacate an impeachment for himself or anyone else.

[dogtag]

I suspect he'll somehow get to skate. This whole thing smells fishy.

[Art]

I suspect he'll somehow get to skate. This whole thing smells fishy.

What was really fishy was the original deal. Like I said, the Justice Department was shamed into this and as has been pointed out, this is the only one of old Hunter's possible crimes that wouldn't possibly incriminate "The Big Guy."

These charges are almost impossible to beat at trial, but I have little doubt there'll be a plea bargain. I suspect he'll plead to the least serious of the three charges at least he'll get the minimum sentence under the guidelines. Since he has no prior criminal history if he does do a few months to a year they'd be at FCI Loretto Camp in Pennsylvania or a similar location. The joke goes that people at this very low security facility are sentenced to Tennis.

[dogtag]

Maybe you have more faith in this Biden Justice Dept than I have.
They tried their best to not prosecute him but now that they have to,
they'll think of something, anything to keep him on this side of the bars.
Time will tell

[Art]

Maybe you have more faith in this Biden Justice Dept than I have.
They tried their best to not prosecute him but now that they have to,
they'll think of something, anything to keep him on this side of the bars.
Time will tell

The main goal is keeping Joe Biden out of trouble. If that means his son has to be inconvenienced I suspect it's a small price to pay. Like I said, this is the only crime Hunter Biden has been accused of that doesn't touch the old man. If Hunter Biden does go to jail, and being convicted does not mean you're going to jail, it'll be under the most comfortable conditions possible, house arrest or some minimum security facility with no walls or fences. I think you can also expect a pardon at the end of Biden's term, which will mean, legally, any conviction never happened.

[dogtag]

Well, if he does get sentenced he'll claim he's a trans Woman
and get put in Women's prison in which case he might not want
to be pardoned.

[Major Tom]

Hunter will never see jail time! As a first offender he'll get the minimum sentence and maybe a fine.

[Allen]

He will eventually be pardoned for everything. His slate wiped clean, so why all the time and expense to convict him?

As far as him hurting taliban Joe's popularity, how could Joe sink any lower and he was unelectable in 2020---didn't make any difference.

[RED]

So much for law and order.

If Hunter Biden used fully auto AK-47 or a M-16 and on video shot and murdered 125 6 year old children on a video, he would never see 1 day behind bars.

If Donald Trump spit on a sidewalk, he would be arrested and sent to serve 14 life terms in prison.

If the Demo-rats had not lied about Trump being a Russian puppet and had not hid Hunters iPad Trump would have won in a landslide!

[dogtag]

The liberal press keeps saying he could get a 25 year prison sentence.
Why ? What are they up to ?
He's only charged with the gun crime (not tax fraud) hardly a 25 year sentence.

[Art]

The liberal press keeps saying he could get a 25 year prison sentence.
Why ? What are they up to ?
He's only charged with the gun crime (not tax fraud) hardly a 25 year sentence.

They always come up with that and its garbage almost every time they say it.

This guy has no prior criminal history. I don't know what the sentencing guidelines would be in his case but I know the jail time would be minimal. Judges almost always run these sentences concurrently so if he did get sentenced to the maximum (he won't) and the sentences run concurrently, as they almost always do unless you're Jack the ripper, he'd get 10 years. Something like this, I figure the guidelines will be 1 - 1 1/2 years and if he gets that much it will be in some minimum security lockup which may not even have a fence.

This case is what's called in the trade a "slam dunk." Expect some sort of plea bargain in which he'll plead guilty to the charge with the least jail time and hope for some form of probation. Denials aside, expect daddy to pardon him.