While all the focus lately has been on Manhattan criminal court and the business records trial of former President Donald Trump, the federal cases against Hunter Biden have been plodding along.
Dates are now set for his two criminal trials, with both scheduled to kick off next month. The media, for its part, is already spinning the proceedings as “psychological torment” for President Joe Biden. But how will voters respond?
On Friday’s show, Megyn was joined by Dan Bongino, host of The Dan Bongino Show, to discuss the cases against the first son and how the White House is trying to position them.
The Criminal Cases
Hunter is facing not one but two trials that, as of now, are both scheduled to start in June. He was indicted by special counsel David Weiss on three gun charges in Delaware, and he was charged separately in California with tax crimes.
First up, the first son will stand trial in his father’s home state of Delaware beginning June 3. In September, Weiss indicted Hunter on three felony counts – including making false statements on a federal firearms form and possession of a firearm as a prohibited person – in connection with a gun he purchased in 2018.
The charges revolve around a revolver he purchased from a Delaware gun shop and owned for about 11 days in October 2018. He was struggling with a cocaine addiction at the time, but he claimed to not be using or addicted to any illegal drugs on government forms.
Hunter is also facing a June 20 trial in Los Angeles for federal tax charges that emerged from the same investigation. As Megyn covered late last year, Hunter is accused of a years-long scheme to avoid paying taxes, instead choosing to spend his millions on things like drugs, escorts, girlfriends, and exotic cars. As the indictment stated, he spent freely on “everything but his taxes.”
All of this came about after a sweetheart plea deal that would have allowed the first son to plead not guilty to two federal tax misdemeanor charges and also enter a “diversion agreement” on the gun charge fell apart in spectacular fashion last summer.
Damage Control
The ‘lawfare’ against Trump has seemingly helped him at the polls. And while the cases against Hunter actually have merit, Megyn wondered if they will make President Biden more sympathetic. “If Hunter Biden were this sweet, sad little character who was being wrongly bullied by the feds, I think it could actually have the effect of creating sympathy for Joe Biden,” she said. “And that seems to be what the White House is going for.”
As Megyn explained, the Biden communications team has rolled out its initial talking points. “We saw them already getting the talking points out like this is going to be really hard for the president; he may be despondent over his poor son and what he is having to go through because Joe is the president,” she noted.
Politico ran an article earlier this week with the headline “Biden aides worry about psychological torment as Hunter heads for trial.” It quotes three anonymous “advisers” who insist the White House will have “no involvement” in the cases but fear they “could dramatically impact the president himself, more psychologically than politically.”
“He worries about Hunter every single day, from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep,” one of the three sources said. “That will only pick up during a trial.”
While Hunter’s legal team attempted to delay the Delaware gun trial on Tuesday, the judge in the case ordered proceedings to move forward. Politico reported that advisers expect the president “will watch some of the media coverage of the trial” and continue to check in on his son – via phone and text – every day.
The positioning from the Biden team is clear, but Megyn isn’t so sure it will resonate. “All along they’ve been doing the, ‘He is a drug addict. I love my son,'” she said. “I have my doubts whether this narrative is going to sell… because Hunter Biden is so unlikable.”
Bongino agreed but doesn’t think these trials will have much of an impact one way or the other. “I think Joe Biden, at this point, is on the terminal decline electorally,” he concluded. “Whether Hunter Biden is guilty or not, it is not going to help them but I just don’t think it hurts him either because he is going down no matter what.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Bongino by tuning in to episode 795 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.