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| Hunter Biden |
Hunter Biden's plea deal on tax and gun-possession charges is the product of America's multi-tiered federal justice system, which offers favorable treatment for White, privileged criminal defendants -- the kind of outcomes not available to ordinary White defendants, and certainly not available to defendants of color. That's from a post today at DonaldWatkins.com.
A longtime Alabama attorney, civil-rights advocate, and criminal-defense expert, Watkins writes under the headline "Hunter Biden’s Tax Evasion and Gun Possession Case “Fixed” in Corrupt Plea Deal":
Crack-smoking, tax evading, drug addict Hunter Biden was given the plea deal of the century by Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice. Biden’s criminal case was “fixed” in plain view.
Hunter Biden is NOT going to prison for his crimes. The First family is safe, for now.
Merrick Garland handled Hunter's embarrassing criminal matter for his dad – President Joe Biden. All three men -- Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, and Merrick Garland -- are corrupt to the core.
While much of today's analysis on the Hunter Biden plea deal has focused on the case's political overtones, Watkins views it as a clear sign that America's court system is unjust and unequal, based largely on issues of race, connections, and socioeconomic status. Writes Watkins:
Garland reported this “fix” in a letter to a federal court in Delaware, which is notorious for railroading black criminal defendants. Read the letter for yourself. It's disgusting.
Welcome to the corrupt, "rigged," weaponized, and multi-tiered federal criminal justice system!
To be clear, there is a stand-alone federal criminal justice system for Hunter Biden and similarly situated privileged white offenders.
There is another federal criminal justice system for ordinary white federal criminal defendants.
There is a separate, wholly unequal, and much harsher federal criminal justice system for black Americans and other defendants of colors.
Finally, there is a politically-motivated and highly weaponized federal criminal justice system operating against Donald J. Trump.
Remarkably, all of these federal criminal justice systems are operating out in the open for the first time.
Is the justice system working against Donald Trump (who is white and wealthy) -- a celebrity businessman and former president? A growing number of Republicans seem to have doubts about that, with some one-time supporters saying Trump is "toast," while others say the indictment against him is "damning." It remains to be seen if Trump is "toast," but circumstances surrounding the Hunter Biden plea deal suggest he benefited from white privilege," which Watkins has seen up close throughout his almost 50-year legal career. He writes:
To protect the viability of Joe Biden's re-election campaign, Attorney General Merrick Garland reduced Hunter Biden’s litany of felony tax-evasion charges to two misdemeanors.
Merrick Garland dropped the gun-possession charge against Hunter Biden, who is an acknowledged drug addict. Federal law makes it a felony for a person to possess a firearm who is an unlawful user of, or addicted to, a controlled substance. Hunter Biden is a known crack cocaine user and longtime drug addict.
Garland allowed Hunter Biden to enter a federal pretrial-diversion program for non-violent, first-time offenders. This is the same kind of program that sent white America into a rage in 2019 when black actor Jussie Smollett, who pleaded guilty to non-gun-related charges in Chicago, was admitted into a state of Illinois pretrial-diversion program.
Smollett was re-indicted on the same charges in 2022, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to 150 days in jail. His sentence has been stayed pending an appeal.
Hunter Biden will NOT be subjected to the Jussie Smollett treatment. Merrick Garland took care of that problem for Hunter and his dad.
Hunter Biden is now basking in the warm glow of Democratic Party-sanctioned "white privilege." Joe Biden must be very pleased with this First Family plea deal.
Merrick Garland’s decision to drop the gun-possession charge allowed Hunter Biden to escape a mandatory minimum 5-year prison sentence on the gun charge, alone.
Black drug offenders are routinely tagged with this gun-possession felony charge and 5-year minimum sentence, which is imposed on top of their drug-related charges. Hunter's "whiteness" saved him from this felony charge.
America is witnessing the federal criminal justice system at work for a privileged white defendant in real time. Only the wealthiest, politically connected white defendants can get the “Hunter Biden Deal.”
Donald Watkins has seen "Hunter Biden Deals" play out a number of times through the years, and he clearly is distressed and angry to see such favoritism help protect the son of a sitting president. Writes Watkins:
I have seen the "Hunter Biden Deal" happen several times during my long legal career. None of the offenders who got it deserved it.
What is more, I have personally seen a white, privileged, drug offender from Iowa, who was connected to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), gain admission to a pretrial-diversion program and avoid prison 17 times over a 15-year period. I have seen a white, privileged drug offender in Alabama, who was connected to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabam), go into pretrial diversion and avoid prison 9 times.
No black defendant in America facing the same federal criminal exposure as Hunter Biden has ever gotten the “Hunter Biden Deal.” None will ever get this deal.
What kind of repercussions should flow from the Hunter Biden plea deal? Watkins suggests several -- and he doesn't hide his anger in expressing them :
The trial Judge assigned to Hunter Biden’s case should reject the “Hunter Biden Deal.” It is the product of a politically-motivated abuse of prosecutorial discretion. It is also repugnant to the fair administration of justice and rule of law.
Republican lawmakers in Washington should be incensed. This “fix” must be investigated on Capitol Hill.
Americans should be outraged. The Biden administration believes we are stupid enough to allow Hunter Biden’s “fixed” criminal case to go down without a fight.
Merrick Garland should resign, immediately! He is a fraud. Garland has brought nothing but shame and disgrace to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Merrick Garland is harder on police officers across America than he is on Hunter Biden. I have zero respect for him as the nation's top prosecutor.
The Department of Justice officials who negotiated and approved the controversial "Hunter Biden Deal" should resign and face federal criminal charges for obstruction of justice.
MAGA Republican supporters of Donald Trump should be raising pure hell about the “fix” in Hunter Biden’s case. Equal justice just went out the window with the "Hunter Biden Deal."
Jurors in Trump’s federal criminal case in Miami should invoke “jury nullification,” without reservation or hesitation. Additionally, Judge Aileen Cannon should use every judicial tool in her arsenal to make sure that her courtroom is not used as a political weapon against Donald Trump. She is uniquely qualified to put an end to the multi-tiered federal criminal justice system in Trump's case.
Finally, Joe Biden must be defeated in 2024. Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and the Biden family are a national disgrace.
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