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Conservative lawyer George Conway took a sarcastic jab at Donald Trump on Friday after Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, was indicted for the second time.
The indictment against Hunter Biden, 53, was filed in California on Thursday. It includes three felony counts of tax evasion and filing a false return and six misdemeanor counts of failure to return. The Department of Justice (DOJ) accused Hunter Biden of not paying at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes between 2016 and 2019, and evading the assessment of taxes in 2018 when he filed false returns. Hunter Biden has yet to enter a plea or speak publicly about the indictment.
Conway, a vocal Trump critic, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday, "I can't believe Sleepy Joe Biden is so sleepy and weak that he allowed the Department of Justice to indict his own son. A real President, like our beloved P01135809, would have fired the attorney general and sent the prosecutors to Gitmo. Sad!"
P01135809 was the inmate number given to Trump when he turned himself in at the Fulton County jail in August for charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, a state that Joe Biden won by a slim margin. Trump has pleaded not guilty and has called the case a political "witch hunt."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's team and the White House via email for comment.
Conway has said that Trump, the GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election, is only running to avoid legal peril as he faces several criminal indictments. Trump has maintained his innocence in all cases against him.
On an episode of The Bulwark Podcast last month, Conway told host Charlie Sykes that Trump "is running for his life. He is running for his freedom."
"Deep down, he knows he's a criminal," he added. "This is something you see if you talk to students of authoritarianism in other countries—you know, the Ruth Ben-Ghiats of the world, the [Federico] Finchelsteins of the world—they will tell you that is a very common thing. These people cannot give up power or don't want to give up power, and they want to maintain power because they're afraid somebody's going to do something to them and throw them in jail."
Conway is also the ex-husband of Kellyanne Conway who served as a senior adviser to Trump.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden's second indictment puts more pressure on his father, who will likely face off against Trump in the 2024 election. Hunter Biden's first indictment was filed in September in Delaware. He stands accused of making false statements on a federal firearms form and possessing a handgun when he was addicted to drugs. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to charges in this case, after his plea deal fell apart.
House Republicans are also attempting to impeach President Biden over disputed accusations that he benefited from and influenced Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings with China and Ukraine while he was vice president under the Obama administration. President Biden has strongly denied any wrongdoing and insists he "never talked business" with his son or his business partners.
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About the writer
Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more