Black men are being jailed ‘years’ for ‘same crimes’ as Hunter Biden: Rep. Wesley Hunt

WASHINGTON — Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) said Wednesday that he was outraged by first son Hunter Biden’s probation-only plea deal for tax and gun crimes, saying that black men are serving prison sentences for similar offenses.

“The American people are sick and tired of this two-tiered justice system and as a black man, I’m tired of seeing this kind of discretion used to favor people like Hunter Biden because he’s white and the son of a president,” Hunt said during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.

“While Hunter Biden will serve no jail time for these charges, black men across this country are in prison for years for the exact same crimes,” the 41-year-old said.

The committee was hearing testimony from special counsel John Durham about his findings that the FBI improperly investigated former President Donald Trump for possibly conspiring with Russia to win the 2016 election.

Hunt, who represents suburban Houston, sought to broaden the focus of the discussion just a day after Delaware US Attorney David Weiss announced the generous deal for President Biden’s son, despite hard time behind bars in well-known comparable cases.

The West Point graduate, former Apache helicopter pilot, and one of four black House Republicans added a jab at Hunter’s father: “I guess selective justice shouldn’t come as a surprise … after all, Joe Biden was one of the authors of the ’94 crime bill, one of my all time favorites. We can see what that has done to black men across this country.”

Durham also expressed concern that Americans perceive a “two-tiered” legal system.

“I don’t think that things can go too much further with the view that law enforcement — particularly the FBI or the Department of Justice — runs a two-tiered system of justice. The nation can’t stand under those circumstances,” Durham said in response to an inquiry from Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.).

Hageman said she believed the Justice Department is “weaponized to protect the favored few elites — the Clintons, the Bidens — while targeting political enemies” such as Trump, who faces federal criminal charges for allegedly mishandling classified documents. President Biden’s own handling of sensitive records is under investigation by special counsel Robert Hur.

Hunter Biden, 53, agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of failing to pay taxes on time in 2017 and 2018 and a felony count for being a drug user in possession of a gun, which he purchased in 2018 by lying about his drug use on a federal gun-purchase form.

The president’s son will have the felony conviction expunged if he completes two years of probation pursuant to the plea deal, which a judge must approve.

Hunter Biden reportedly borrowed $2 million last year from wealthy Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris to pay off his tax bill on millions in income from countries where Joe Biden held sway as vice president, such as China, Romania and Ukraine. The elder Biden interacted with many of the foreign business associates of Hunter and first brother James Biden.

The precise amount of back taxes at issue was not stated in initial court filings, which said that Hunter Biden owed more than $100,000 in federal taxes each year.

Hunter entirely avoided charges for money laundering and allegedly violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act by representing the interests of foreign clients before the US government. He also avoided drug charges that disproportionately ensnared racial minorities under his father’s legislation, despite many photos of him using crack cocaine on his abandoned laptop.

Similar cases have resulted in much harsher penalties.

Rapper Kodak Black, then 22 years old, was sentenced in 2019 to 46 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to providing an incorrect Social Security number on a federal gun purchase form in order to buy three guns from a Miami-area shop despite a previous criminal record.

“2 tiers of justice?” the rapper’s attorney, Bradford, Cohen wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “Kodak was charged for the same crime. Got over 3 years. Mr. Biden will not serve a day. Feels right? Do FBI agents and federal authorities take cases personally?” Then-President Donald Trump commuted Black’s sentence in January 2021.

In 2008, African-American actor Wesley Snipes was convicted by a jury of three misdemeanor counts of failing to file tax returns worth a total of $15 million. He was sentenced to three years in prison, despite being acquitted of felony charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and filing a false claim.

Attorney Robert Barnes, who represented Snipes, tweeted Tuesday: “As a criminal tax lawyer for a near quarter-century, I confirm how rare & extraordinary the #HunterBiden plea deal is. Indeed, the deal violates DOJ Tax official policy, where Biden’s DOJ prohibit prosecutors from even offering this deal to people who did far less than Hunter.”

Americans of other races also received much stiffer punishment than the first son for trying to duck their taxes.

“Jersey Shore” star Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino was sentenced in 2018 to eight months in prison for failing to pay $2.3 million in taxes over five years — roughly the same amount as Hunter Biden reportedly repaid. His older brother, Marc Sorrentino, was sentenced to 24 months for failing to pay $8.9 million. The Sorrentinos pleaded guilty to single counts of tax evasion and preparing a false return, respectively.

Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort, then 69, was sentenced in 2018 to 60 months in prison specifically for violating FARA by repping a Ukrainian political party without first registering with the Justice Department.

Hunter Biden introduced prominent Chinese, Kazakhstani, Mexican, Russian and Ukrainian businessmen — in some cases closely linked to governments — to his father and served as a conduit to current and former US officials for Mexican and Romanian businessmen.