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Former President Donald Trump has warned that the country may "never be the same again" after the criminal indictment of Hunter Biden on federal felony gun charges.
President Joe Biden's son, frequently targeted by Trump and other Republicans with unsubstantiated accusations of corruption tied to the president, was indicted Thursday on three federal charges accusing him of being an illicit drug user while possessing a gun and lying about using drugs in order to purchase the firearm.
Trump suggested in a Truth Social post on Thursday that it was "very unfair" that the president himself was not facing any charges, despite no evidence having been presented that would support criminal charges against Joe Biden or tie him to the allegations leveled against his son.
The former president is facing a total of 91 felony charges across four criminal indictments. Trump has pleaded not guilty to every charge and claims to be the victim of political "persecution" and "election interference" while he campaigns as the leading GOP candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
"This, the gun charge, is the only crime that Hunter Biden committed that does not implicate Crooked Joe Biden," Trump wrote. "One down, Eleven to go! The Democrats, with all of their horrible, very unfair, and mostly illegal Witch Hunts, have started a process that is very dangerous for our Country."
"They have opened the proverbial Pandora's Box, and it is possible that the USA will never be the same again," he continued. "SO SAD!!!"
Newsweek reached out for comment to the White House via email on Thursday.
Hunter Biden was charged about six weeks after the collapse of a plea agreement on gun and tax charges. Federal tax charges could still be filed against the president's son at a later date.
The gun charges also came two days after Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced that Republicans were launching an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden. Many Republicans have accused the president, without evidence, of engaging in illegal business dealings with his son.
Lawyer Abbe Lowell, who represents Hunter Biden, argued in a statement to Reuters that the charges were politically motivated and accused MAGA Republicans of "improper and partisan interference" leading up to the indictment.
"As expected, prosecutors filed charges today that they deemed were not warranted just six weeks ago following a five-year investigation into this case," Lowell said. "The evidence in this matter has not changed in the last six weeks, but the law has and so has MAGA Republicans' improper and partisan interference in this process."
Trump was far from the only Republican to criticize Thursday's charges against Hunter Biden. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer called the charges "a very small start" in a statement, while claiming that there are "mountains of evidence" showing that the president's son committed "several felonies."
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a frequent critic of the Biden family and a staunch Trump supporter, also lamented that Hunter Biden had not been charged with several other counts in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
About the writer
Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more