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The whole question on the form is probably unconstitutional and part of the bullshit racist War on Drugs.
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Hunter pretty clearly did violate it by lying on the form.
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The earlier deal they almost made was BS elitism that anyone else of lesser means wouldn’t have been offered.
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I don’t know what a just sentence will be in this case. While I think the whole crime is BS, there are lots of people in prison for violating it, so I guess it should look something like the average. (Though that is hard to do, because this law is rarely enforced by itself, and usually is one of those “tacked on” laws where someone is nailed for other crimes). I don’t think he should get a free pass because he’s the president’s son, but it would not surprise me at all if he gets a fine and probation.
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This won’t stifle the right wing goons attacking Biden for using the DOJ to imprison political rivals. Especially if Hunter gets off with no time. If he does manage to serve some time, it will be in Club Fed and they will claim he’s “Sacrificing Hunter to look like he isn’t weaponizing the justice system.”
And so ends Hunter’s campaign for president. 
And caffeine is a stimulant, and Nicotine is even more addictive and can be both.
The wording is vague - and while it has been enforced only for unlawful or controlled substances, it isn’t 100% clear what all it could include.
What is illegal is all the people who live in legal weed states and use marijuana filling out that form and lying on it, violating Federal law.
Sure, but equating caffeine and nicotine to alcohol, cocaine, and opiates is kind of ridiculous. Equating alcohol to opiates is not ridiculous.
Yeah, I didn’t include it, but this warning is included on that question:
Warning: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized
for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.
it’s true. it’s always better to commit them in pairs.
But see, this is just a distraction and Biden will force the DOJ to change the verdict, CHECKMATE LIBS!!! Biden is the REAL fascist!!! /s
For real tho!
Well, you know, it just shows how EVIL and wrong DUMBOCRATS ACTUALLY ARE, MAAAAAANNNN!!! /S
Has anyone ever been incarcerated for the sole count of having lied on a gun application? Not just an add-on, but the only crime they were tried for?
That’s one reason people are rarely prosecuted on this charge; there’s a lot of wiggle room in the “what is a drug addict, really?” area.
Of course in Hunter’s case he did make the prosecutors’ job much easier by penning a memoir in which he described himself as an addict and detailed just how much cocaine he was doing during the time in his life when he applied for that gun permit.
You’ve never seen me on a lot of caffeine. I should probably be legally prohibited from that - I try not to have any, but …
Have you seen the arguments about coffee making around here? I don’t know what those people will resort to in order to score. /s
maybe?
In the 2019 fiscal year, when Hunter Biden purchased his gun, federal prosecutors received 478 referrals for lying on Form 4473 — and filed just 298 cases… out of approximately 27 million background checks undertaken. The data does not indicate the success rate of the prosecutions.
A 1990 Justice Department feasibility study noted how difficult it was to bring cases against people who falsely answer questions on Form 4473. Unlike the rich paper trail that exists for felons, no such record exists for drug abusers,…
basically, it does sound like if he hadn’t written a book about it, he probably wouldn’t have been prosecuted.
well, yes and no.
The reason for adding drug users to the list is a bit obscure, according to experts we consulted… But [in] the mid-1960s [ when the law was signed ]… marijuana was often believed by law enforcement to be the drug of choice for people of color.
Didn’t he already have a plea deal for this…what was wrong with it again? Did this have to go to trial just for show?
I’m not so sure. /S
There is an indirect predecessor trailblazing the path of convicted felon in into political “living” martyr right now (whatever that means.) So it’s not definite his political career is finished.
The judge didn’t like the initial plea deal. And prosecutors and Biden couldn’t come up with a deal that satisfied them and addressed the judge’s concerns.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/26/hunter-biden-pleads-not-guilty-to-tax-charges-after-judge-questions-plea-deal-00108301#:~:text=WILMINGTON%2C%20Del.,balked%20at%20approving%20the%20deal.
The GOP was worried that it wasn’t making Joe Biden look guilty enough and they wouldn’t be able to campaign on it.
Just as President Biden and the Democratic Party didn’t control the prosecution of Trump, the GOP didn’t control this prosecution, either. Yes, the special prosecutor was a Trump appointee, but they still had a plea deal worked out until the judge rejected it.
And that’s why I have zero problem with this prosecution and conviction. There is no way in hell Hunter should have been allowed to purchase firearms then and probably still now.
Whining about precedent and process is only so much whinging, vs what this law is intended to do. Hunter wasn’t just violating the letter of the law, he was violating the spirit of the law.
It’s that meme with the sweating guy and the two buttons playing out.
Honestly, I couldn’t care less if Hunter is convicted. He’s a private citizen that just happens to be connected. He’s not in office, not running for office, and doesn’t have any direct play. I care as much about his trial and conviction as I do for the next person seen before the judge that convicted him.
I care about it insofar as it disproves the claims from Trump and his acolytes that Trump’s prosecution was driven by partisan politics. I look forward to seeing Bob Menendez convicted as well to more directly prove that.
I’d like those dirty leftists at MSNBC and the rest to explain to me which office Hunter Biden is running for, or what administration position he is being considered for, as that would be news, not this.
I guess they are still happy to give Trump free publicity as long as it helps pay their bills.
