Law professor Jonathan Turley explained on Thursday how Hunter Biden’s legal woes could ensnare his father, President Joe Biden.
On Thursday, the first son was arraigned in federal court for nine charges related to tax crimes associated with Hunter’s overseas business dealings. Hunter pleaded not guilty to the charges.
With no plea deal on the table, the case is headed to trial. To prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, prosecutors may take a dive deep into the complicated money trail connected to Hunter’s businesses, which Turley believes could ultimately ensnare the president.
“When you look at this indictment — the twists and bends they take — is it really rivals Nadia Comaneci, the gymnast. This is an indictment that carefully avoids bringing up the influence peddling, corruption scandal, and its basis. It can’t avoid it to some extent because some of these unindicted figures are, in fact, Biden family members,” Turley said on Fox News.
“But the Department of Justice has avoided opening up a special counsel investigation of influence peddling. They have avoided charging him on [the Foreign Agent Registration Act], which many of us don’t understand, that he was an unregistered foreign agent,” he continued.
“All of those moves have served to protect the president. It’s insulated the president to a degree in these trials,” he said. “So they indeed may trip some wires because it’s very hard to deal with some of these issues without acknowledging that the funds were coming from a massive influence-peddling scheme. But so far, they seem to be intent to try and avoid doing that.”
And yet, the indictment — nine counts related to tax fraud — is “light,” Turley explained.
“Because the Department of Justice allowed the statute of limitations to run [out] on early tax violations going back to 2014. It has never explained why,” he said.
“It was warned internally by the IRS whistleblowers … that you’re allowing the statute of limitations to run, and they could have easily extended it, and they have never explained why they did that,” Turley continued. “But some of those early taxes are the most damaging, potentially, for the president.”
Hunter’s trial is scheduled to begin on June 20, 2024.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!