A handful of winners and losers have emerged following Hunter Biden’s guilty conviction on all three counts he faced in a federal gun case in Delaware.
The president’s son was found guilty on all charges in his historic criminal case focused on his purchase of a firearm in 2018.
Hunter Biden faced a trial this month that lasted more than a week and included emotional testimony from members of his family, including daughter Naomi Biden, ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and sister-in-law turned girlfriend, Hallie Biden.
LOSER: BIDEN FAMILY
PRESIDENT BIDEN REACTS TO SON HUNTER’S GUILTY VERDICT IN GUN TRIAL: ‘I AM ALSO A DAD’
Hunter Biden arrives to federal court with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
First lady Jill Biden arrives to federal court on hearing there is a verdict, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
The Biden family, including first lady Jill Biden and Hunter’s wife, were a constant presence in the Delaware courtroom during the trial, leading many experts to wonder whether the Bidens’ political power in the state would influence the jury into a not guilty verdict. President Biden weighed in on the case in May and said he believed his son had done “nothing wrong.”
“My son has done nothing wrong,” Biden declared in a rare sit-down interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle. “I trust him. I have faith in him, and it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.”
WINNER: HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
The Republican-led committee has been at the forefront of investigating alleged crimes committed by Hunter Biden and has said the federal gun case represents a first step toward accountability.
“Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal was smoked out after scrutiny by a federal judge,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer posted on X following the guilty verdict.
“Today’s verdict is a step toward accountability but until the Department of Justice investigates everyone involved in the Bidens’ corrupt influence peddling schemes that generated over $18 million in foreign payments to the Biden family, it will be clear department officials continue to cover for the Big Guy, Joe Biden.”
LOSER: HUNTER BIDEN ATTORNEY ABBE LOWELL AND “SUGAR BROTHER” KEVIN MORRIS
Lowell, the lead attorney defending Hunter Biden, unsuccessfully attempted to make the case that there is “no evidence” against the president’s son in the federal trial while Morris bankrolled Biden’s legal fees and tax issues to the tune of millions of dollars.
ONE TRIAL DOWN, ONE TO GO: HUNTER BIDEN FACES TRIAL ON FEDERAL TAX CHARGES NEXT
Hunter Biden, center, and his attorneys Abbe Lowell, right, and Kevin Morris, left, arrive for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee markup titled “Resolution Recommending That The House Of Representatives Find Robert Hunter Biden In Contempt Of Congress,” in Rayburn Building on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Kevin is completely tapped out,” an individual close to Morris, a Hollywood entertainment lawyer who befriended Hunter in recent years, said in May.
Morris, whose daughter reportedly confronted Hunter recently about taking advantage of her dad, has often been seen accompanying Hunter during his trial and while out in California.
WINNER: FORMER NEW YORK POST EDITOR EMMA-JO MORRIS, MARCO POLO FOUNDER GARRETT ZIEGLER, CRITICS OF HUNTER BIDEN’S LAPTOP
Emma-Jo Morris a former deputy politics editor at New York Post, was the first to publish the contents of Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” in October 2020, which was filled with videos and photos of drug use, sex acts and sensitive business communications.
Despite being dismissed as “Russian disinformation” by Hunter Biden’s political allies in Congress and in the media, the laptop was entered into evidence by the federal government and used as a key piece of evidence in Hunter’s gun trial.
Garrett Ziegler, a former Trump aide who has played an instrumental role in the Hunter Biden investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings, was sued by Hunter Biden last year for publishing the contents of his infamous laptop on the online database Marco Polo.
He appeared at the gun trial in Delaware last week, and Hunter’s wife Melissa Cohen lashed out at him and called him a “piece of s—” and said, “You have no right to be here.”
“It’s sad I’ve been sitting here the whole time and haven’t approached anyone,” Ziegler told NBC last week.
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US President Joe Biden, left, and Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, right, during the Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, April 1, 2024. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
LOSER: MAINSTREAM MEDIA, INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY, AND SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES
The narrative that the Biden laptop was not legitimate was quickly latched onto by mainstream news outlets leading up to the November elections as social media companies, including Facebook, began to suppress the story over concerns about its authenticity.
Those concerns were amplified by a story published by Politico with the headline, “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.”
The article contained a letter signed by 51 former intel officials who warned that the laptop had “all the classic earmarks” of Russian disinformation.
Fox News Digital recently reached out to all the officials listed on that letter inquiring whether they regretted signing the letter. The former officials who responded doubled down on their position.
James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence in the Obama administration, said, “No” when he was asked by Fox News Digital about whether he regretted signing the laptop letter.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (left) and Hunter Biden (right). (Getty Images)
WINNER: JUDGE MARYELLEN NOREIKA
Noreika, U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware appointed by former President Trump, torpedoed Hunter Biden’s plea deal last year, which experts say is the only reason the president’s son’s case went to trial this year.
Biden was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, as part of plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge.
Noreika did not accept the plea agreement, questioning the constitutionality — specifically the diversion clause and the immunity Hunter Biden would receive.
The original plea agreement seemed to break down after Noreika asked Special Counsel Weiss if FARA charges could be brought against Biden.
The move prompted CNN legal analyst Elie Honig to say that the judge was the only person in the room who “did her job properly.”
US President Joe Biden arrives with Merrick Garland, US attorney general, right, during a Medal of Valor ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
LOSER: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRESIDENT BIDEN AND AG MERRICK GARLAND
The Wall Street Journal reported in September that the relationship between Biden and Garland was in a “deep freeze” as sources familiar said Garland’s appointment of special counsels to look into the Biden family’s actions was driven by a “punctilious desire to give the appearance that sensitive investigations are walled off from political pressure” as opposed to following the law.
Some White House aides came to the conclusion that “Garland had mismanaged the inquiry” after the plea deal imploded last summer, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Hannah Panreck contributed to this report
