For the first time in U.S. history, the Justice Department has criminally charged the child of a sitting president. Federal prosecutors have indicted President Biden’s son Hunter Biden on felony charges of illegally possessing a handgun and making false statements in order to obtain a revolver in 2018. Special counsel David Weiss brought the charges after a Trump-appointed federal judge in July rejected a deal that would have seen Hunter Biden plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts in order to avoid jail time. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and fines of up to $750,000. This comes as Republican lawmakers have opened an impeachment inquiry of President Biden. “Maybe this will become the norm … to impeach the president if the president is from the opposite party,” says Ryan Grim, D.C. bureau chief for The Intercept, who adds that Republican infighting is threatening House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership and likely to lead to a shutdown of the federal government. “It does seem like they are headed for a shutdown of their own making.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
