
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">President Biden’s son, Hunter, has now been convicted on three felony counts related to his purchase of a gun while a drug addict &#8212; and lying on federal application forms. The full impact will not be known until sentencing.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As with Trump’s recent convictions, the notoriety and sensation of the case exceeds any real impacts on the political process. ; It is not likely to change the minds of many voters. ; First of all, Hunter is not the President – and there is no connection to be made to his dad.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">However, &#8230; there is one aspect of the case that reverberates through the political sphere. ; In using Hunter’s infamous laptop as hard evidence, the prosecution repudiated all those false claims that it was a Russian dirty trick designed to hurt Papa Biden in the 2020 campaign. ; Particularly damaging was information on the laptop suggesting Joe Biden was “the big guy” getting a cut of the money from Hunter’s schemes.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">What makes the laptop particularly significant is how the Democrat political establishment &#8230; the left-wing media &#8230; and the tech giants &#8230; successfully conspired to advance the false narrative and censor the truth. ; This included a letter signed by 51 top American intelligence officials endorsing the concocted lie. ; The letter was orchestrated by the now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That is one of the legal issues that is yet to be fully investigated and addressed by the courts. ; Now that the laptop has been officially authenticated – including the information it contains – there remains the prospect of future indictments. ; Have to wait and see.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the meantime, Joe and Jill Biden have professed undying love for their son. They say they are proud of how he has “turned his life around” from his earlier days. Their expression of parental affection is appropriate and understandable.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">One aspect of the case is unprecedented, however. ; This is a case in which the father of the ; felon has the power to pardon the son – or commute any sentence. ; President Biden has said he would not do that. If Biden loses the election, it is highly likely that he would break that promise since it would no longer have political ramifications. ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Outgoing Presidents have been known to use the power to pardon to take care of political allies – and occasionally to clean up personal family situations. You may recall that on his way out of office, President Clinton granted his brother Roger a pardon from his drug-related conviction. President Lincoln pardoned Emilie Todd Helm, his wife’s half-sister and wife of Confederate General Benjamin Helm.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Hunter almost dodged felony charges with an earlier “sweetheart” get-out-of-jail-free deal that would have essentially set aside both the gun charges and an unrelated tax evasion case – which is up for trial in September. ; It was such a corrupt deal that the presiding judge refused to accept it.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">While many point to the Hunter case as clear evidence that the Biden Department of Justice operates without political bias, it should be noted that the Biden Department of Justice had initially offered Hunter the unprecedented sweetheart deal. That left the DOJ with no choice but to indict Hunter in the two cases separately.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But &#8230; then there is Hunter’s tax evasion case. That could have a more political impact. While the gun case was a simple illegal act by Hunter, the tax evasion case will likely get into where and how he got all that money – on which he failed to pay taxes. In addition, to the laptop references, there is significant evidence that Papa Joe was more involved in Hunter’s business dealings than he admits, </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He was certainly lying when he said he never discussed Hunter’s business dealings. ; There are all those meetings and phone calls with business partners. ; Hosting them at the White House. ; Even golf outings. Some of the money was delivered to the President’s home in Delaware. ; Biden was periodically getting money from Hunter.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">How many of the various leads will be followed in the tax evasion trial is uncertain. Many predict that prosecutors will stay very close to the most essential facts – not wanting to unload a Pandora’s box of suspicions and evidence involving the President at the close of the campaign. But the potential of any number of threads unraveling the other issues is there. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Personally, I think there are a lot more unresolved issues involving the Biden family finances and business dealings on the road ahead than in the rearview mirror – including failing to file as a foreign agent, influence peddling, abuse of power, bribery and more. ; Again, we will have to wait and see.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So, there ‘tis.</p>

What is the impact of Hunter Biden’s conviction?
