Raw Story - (archived: https://archive.ph/NOIBT ) Opinion: Fox News' media malfeasance on parade

By Sabrina Haake - Commentary
December 8, 2024 6:32AM ET

Mainstream media spent last week in a self-righteous frenzy over Joe Biden’s pardon of his son.

Almost none of the coverage explained that Hunter Biden was pardoned for offenses almost never prosecuted in the first place.

Because he was in recovery and not using at the time, Hunter Biden answered “no” on a gun permit application where it asked about drug addiction. While this may have been a ‘context needed’ response, according to the National Criminal Justice Association, almost no one gets prosecuted for grey or even false answers on a gun permit application. Similarly, the tax charges brought against Hunter Biden were for first time tax offenses related to mis-claimed expenditures; such charges are rarely brought against first-time offenders, and almost never result in jail time.

The rarity of similar, arms-length prosecutions in both cases supports a strong inference that Hunter was prosecuted for politics, not cause, as President Biden made clear.

On the surface, Biden’s justification echoed Trump’s repeated claims of victimhood, but there’s no factual comparison. Lying about expenses on a personal tax return, or drug use on a permit for a gun that was never used, isn’t in the same league as Trump inciting a violent mob to attack the U.S. capital. Nor is it anywhere near Trump asking a state official to find 11,000 votes to rig an election, decades of business and financial fraud, a jury finding of sexual abuse and defamation, or staggering emoluments from foreign governments.

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