William J. Rothwell

State College

The recent Hunter Biden gun charges case reflects a combination of various emotions.

The statute under which he was charged, making it a crime to misstate one’s drug use on a gun purchase application, is itself questionable. The gun industry, the NRA and Congressional Republicans have argued that the drug use question should not appear on the application as it constitutes an unconstitutional infringement on the applicant’s Second Amendment rights. If Biden appeals his conviction on those grounds, these Republicans should voice their support for his cause. But, lacking integrity, they won’t.

The MAGA folks falsely claim that the Biden Administration “orchestrated” the Alvin Bragg case against Trump. If the White House were in charge of trials, the President could have “orchestrated” the Hunter case right out of existence. But he didn’t, because President Biden has integrity and respect for the rule of law, even to the point of ruling out a pardon for his son.

Republicans claim that the Bragg case would not have been brought if the defendant’s name were not Trump. An argument could be made that Hunter’s case would not have been brought if his name were not Biden. Having authorized a special counsel in the Trump case, Merrick Garland had no choice but to do the same in the Biden case to avoid the appearance of bias.

But the MAGA crowd will continue to lament the Trump decision while praising the Biden decision. Hypocrisy knows no bounds with these folks.