By Debra J. Saunders Over the years, I’ve written a lot about drug offenders sentenced to decades in federal prison, even life without parole, for first-time nonviolent offences. Many were Black men with few resources and limited prospects.
None of them had the clout or sophistication of Hunter Biden, a Yale Law School graduate who was found guilty Tuesday on three felony counts involving his purchase of a gun in 2018 while he was addicted to and using crack. If the president’s son goes to prison, there will be only one person Hunter should blame for the outcome: himself. (For the record, I hope the president’s son does not have to do time, as he appears to have turned his life around.
) But the evidence against Hunter Biden in this case was overwhelming. If you read his memoir, “Beautiful Things,” you know that he was guilty and he knew he was guilty. Which makes me wonder why he pleaded not guilty.
The younger Biden apparently thought he would snow a courtroom — and charm jurors into not believing the mountain of evidence gathered against him. Cable TV talking heads talk about this story as a cautionary tale about the scourge of drug addiction, when really, it’s also about the younger Biden’s sense of entitlement and failure to accept responsibility. There’s a pattern here with Hunter Biden.
In 2014, the then-vice president’s son was discharged from the U.S. Navy Reserve after he tested positive for cocaine.
No criminal charges were filed. This was differ.
