Half of Americans — including a third of Democrats — think first son Hunter Biden got favorable treatment from federal prosecutors after he agreed to a sweetheart plea deal earlier this week, according to a new poll.
Responses to the Reuters/Ipsos survey largely broke along party lines, with 75% of Republicans believing the first son received special treatment, while 33% of Democrats felt the same way.
However, most respondents also said the Hunter ordeal isn’t likely to have an impact on whether they will vote for President Biden’s re-election in 2024.
The 53-year-old reached an agreement with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay income taxes and enter a pretrial diversionary program on a felony count of possessing a firearm while addicted to drugs.
As a result, Hunter will likely avoid jail time.
His initial appearance in Delaware federal court is set for July 26.
The first son’s attorney, Chris Clark, tried Tuesday to counter GOP grumblings that Hunter was getting away with crimes that would normally lead to incarceration.
“This was a five-year, very diligent investigation pursued by incredibly professional prosecutors, some of whom have been career prosecutors,” Clark told MSNBC.
“One of them, at least, was appointed by President [Donald] Trump in there. No one has ever said they’re not competent, good or diligent,” he added.
Prosecutors say Hunter failed to pay at least $100,000 to the federal government on at least $1.5 million in income he received in both 2017 and 2018.
Hunter reportedly took out a loan to pay off tax obligations to the IRS in 2021.
The first son is expected to get probation lasting about two years on the gun charge, with a requirement that he stay sober, submit to drug testing, and avoid additional criminal behavior.
He may also be made to agree to never own firearms again.
The White House has insisted that the president “loves” his son despite the legal woes and President Biden further said he is “proud” of Hunter on the day the plea agreement was announced.
“I’m very proud of my son,” Biden told reporters when asked about Hunter during a roundtable on artificial intelligence in San Francisco on Tuesday.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted June 20 and 21 and surveyed 1,004 US adults.
It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
