The President's son, Hunter Biden, was convicted this week on three federal charges stemming from a 2018 handgun purchase where he was found to have lied on his application to purchase the firearm.
Pretty much what we learned from the trial and speedy verdict is that Hunter Biden is a mess. There was very little meat to the trial, to the point that MAGA-world is responding with "YAWN," and fellow-newly-convicted-felon Donald Trump is calling the trial a "distraction" from the "real crimes" of the family.
Like Trump's detractors, the anti-Biden contingent is out for blood. With Hunter Biden's Federal trial in Delaware, much like Trump's Stormy Daniels trial, what they got was "meh." Yes, lives of men with too much money and influence get messy. One-night stands with porn stars; affairs with your brother's widow. Laundering hush money payments to the porn star from your presidential campaign account; a pesky crack habit.
On one hand, Donald Trump is not an addict. On the other, Hunter Biden is not the President nor is he running for that office. All in all, it's just sordid, and neither of these cases would have likely seen a criminal trial if the defendants were not who they are.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland published an op-ed in the Washington Post the same day as the Hunter Biden verdict describing some of the death threats, bombing threats, and other love notes he and the Department of Justice are receiving.
In the piece, Garland cites the Principles of Federal Prosecution he helped to draft some 45 years ago. Those Principles were developed in response to the Watergate scandal to protect against undue political influence in DOJ's pursuit of the law – in other words, to prevent the President who appoints the Attorney General from exploiting the Attorney General to subvert the law in the President's favor.
This is an important cornerstone of our nation: that no one, including the Commander in Chief, be above the law. If you feel otherwise, I suggest you consider emigrating to Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, or Syria and trying out autocracy for a couple years, because that's what it means to have the law subordinate to the ruling class. The downside is your departure from any of those dictatorships will be much more difficult than your arrival.
I'm neither sorry that Donald Trump's and Hunter Biden's dirty laundry has been aired at trial nor am I elated at their convictions. Both cases simply show how depraved our elites are and how complacent regular Americans are about it.
I will continue to support our law enforcement system and those who work in it. I denounce those who call for defunding the police from one side of the political spectrum or the Department of Justice from the other. When it comes to dealing with the most serious of crimes gripping our country – the proliferation of cheap opioids like fentanyl, gun violence, human trafficking – we need our local police and prosecutors as well as our Federal agencies to keep up their hard work and cooperation to fight these growing threats. Suggesting the elimination of any element is ignorant and reckless.
As far as I am concerned, the flurry of trials demonstrates that everyone has gotten what they wanted. The left wanted a Trump conviction and got it; unfortunately, it wasn't over any of the serious contraventions to democracy that unfolded after the 2020 election. The far right feels there must be a quid pro quo: if our guy is dirty, yours must be too (so far, the closest they can get is a child who doesn't like to pay his taxes, likes guns a little and crack too much).
I will get hate mail here for not hating Trump enough and the MAGA crowd will lambaste me with the usual conspiracy links since I am not holding forth on the Bidens and Ukraine.
Here's the thing. Our country was not made better by the Manhattan DA last month, nor was it in a Delaware Federal courthouse this week. These are not serious crimes. All we have to show for the breathless media coverage of these two trials is confirmation that Donald Trump and Hunter Biden share one common bond: sleaze.
Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican, she lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and two of cat. She can be reached at
