As RedState reported, the five-year-long investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax dealings and illegal possession of a firearm culminated in a slap on the wrist on Tuesday.

Per the plea deal, the president’s son will only plead guilty to two misdemeanors for not filing taxes, an offense that typically results in a fine and no jail time. He will also be given pre-trial diversion (i.e. no charges filed) for lying on a federal form to purchase a gun.

Furious responses came in shortly after the news broke. Rep. James Comer had this to say.

🚨🚨🚨

Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery.

Read my full statement.👇 pic.twitter.com/9swtTaUUQu

— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) June 20, 2023

That’s been my reaction as well. The idea that after five years of investigation, the most the DOJ could come up with at this point was two misdemeanors for not filing taxes is laughable. We have all seen the emails from the laptop discussing corrupt dealings and influence peddling along with the pictures of Hunter Biden using drugs and traveling with prostitutes (across state lines in at least one instance, which is a federal offense).

Jonathan Turley also blew the whistle on what this looks like.

Jonathan Turley on Hunter Biden's plea agreement: "For many, this is gonna look like you ticketed the getaway driver after a bank robbery." pic.twitter.com/yvX7wskpIT

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 20, 2023

TURLEY: This plea deal does have all the makings of an avoidance of any jail time, but more importantly, it was an evasion of the more serious allegations facing Hunter Biden and the Biden family. So it is historic in the sense that the president’s son is going to plead guilty to criminal acts. It is going to be very controversial for critics. I think for many this looks like you ticketed the getaway driver after a bank robbery. You know, many people view the influence peddling allegation as being a very serious form of corruption with potential crime, and he’s going to plead guilty to relatively minor charges.

While Hunter Biden’s associates face years in prison, he’s getting off with what looks to be no jail time. As I wrote in the original breaking news story, there’s no way to spin that but him getting off easy. Are we really to believe that after five years, the DOJ still can’t come to a conclusion on the influence-peddling allegations mentioned by Turley?

As to the actual deal given to Hunter Biden, Brett Tolman, a former US Attorney, says it was a sweetheart arrangement that many others have not gotten in similar circumstances.

They are ignoring decades of policy and precedent to seek felonies not misdemeanors and seek sentences within the guideline range. The diversion agreement on the felony is offensive to everyone not politically connected who sought diversions and were literally laughed at by DOJ.

— Brett L. Tolman (@tolmanbrett) June 20, 2023

Take a look at 18 USC 924(c) charges. Easy to prove given Hunter was distributed/dealing drugs with a firearm in his possession. Such charges were brought against thousands in inner cities across the country for last 20 years. Mandatory minimum sentences for all. Except Hunter.

— Brett L. Tolman (@tolmanbrett) June 20, 2023

This counters the idea that what Hunter Biden received was standard fare. Perhaps it has happened before, but I’m not at all convinced it was normal to be treated so kindly. In fact, I was just watching a video the other day laying out exactly how the DOJ has treated other people when it comes to drugs and firearms.

I won’t explain in detail here, but if you use YouTube, you’ve probably heard of FPSRussia (here’s a helpful explainer video), who was sent to prison for possessing weed while owning firearms. The federal government blitzed one of the most popular online figures in the world despite not showing that he illegally owned any of the firearms he had. Meanwhile, Hunter Biden is on video brandishing an illegal firearm while distributing drugs, and he doesn’t even get charged. You can do the math on that.

I’ll end with this clip from CBS News, which suggests that other investigations could still result in more serious charges for Hunter Biden.

CBS reporter says Hunter Biden’s federal plea deal “may just be the beginning” as investigations into the Biden family ramp up.pic.twitter.com/YHymuz63MI

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 20, 2023

With all due respect to Catherine Herridge, and she’s a great reporter, I have no faith that this is just the beginning. I think this is exactly where the DOJ wanted to end up, with being able to claim they enforced the law while not actually pursuing any of the more serious charges against Hunter Biden and his family.

As a political matter, there’s still a lot of fruit that can come from the House investigation into the Biden family’s corruption. As a legal matter, though, I think the fix is in. I’d love to be proven wrong.