Weekly Recap: Jun 9th - 14th
A recap of the big political stories affecting the United States this past week.
Donald Trump was allowed to hold his probation interview remotely and with his lawyer present, both of which are not options that most convicted felons receive. The results of the interview will be considered during Trump’s sentencing on July 11th. Trump is free to travel the country and campaign while awaiting his sentencing.
Hunter Biden was found guilty of three federal charges for lying on a form about his drug addiction when purchasing a firearm. While many Congressional Republicans were quick to take a victory lap after the verdict, they quickly turned to damage control after realizing Hunter’s conviction destroyed the Republican narrative of “two tiers of justice” that they have been claiming since Trump was first indicted.
The responses from Hunter and President Joe Biden were in stark contrast to those of Trump and Republicans. Unlike the GOP who complained about “rigged trials”, “weaponized justice”, and “lawfare”, both Bidens took the result in stride while respecting the legal system.
Hunter Biden’s statement:
"I am more grateful today for the love and support I experienced this last week from Melissa, my family, my friends, and my community than I am disappointed by the outcome. Recovery is possible by the grace of God, and I am blessed to experience that gift one day at a time."
President Biden’s statement:
"As I said last week, I am the president, but I am also a dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery. As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal. Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that."
Republicans continued their efforts to minimize Trump’s criminal activity both by attempting to demonize the justice system but also by attempting to manufacture crimes against Democrats.
Despite already having had a congressional hearing with Special Counsel Robert Hur, who performed the investigation into President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, and having the full transcript of Hur’s interview with Biden, Republicans demanded that the tape of the interview be released.
Biden took executive privilege with the tape, which caused US Attorney General Merrick Garland to refuse to turn the tape over to Congress even when Republicans issued a subpoena. That, in turn, led House Republicans to vote to hold Garland in contempt of Congress.
Since the Reagan administration, a precedent has been established that the Department of Justice does not prosecute Attorney Generals who are found to be in contempt of Congress for withholding something deemed to have executive privilege. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have followed this precedent over the years.
Congressional Republicans know this but have attempted to use the lack of prosecution against Garland to push their “two tiers of justice” narrative.
Another example used by Republicans is that Trump ally Steve Bannon and former Trump administration official Peter Navarro both have been sentenced to jail time for defying congressional subpoenas. Bannon was a private citizen while he was planning the January 6th protests and insurrection, which prevented any claim of executive privilege. Navarro claimed executive privilege but never provided any evidence of the claim, and neither did Trump’s lawyers. Nevertheless, Republicans are attempting to use these sentences as proof of Democrats “weaponizing the justice system.”
What congressional Republicans haven’t done is restart the ethics investigation into the numerous Republican Representatives who defied congressional subpoenas from the Jan 6th committee. All of these Representatives had been referred to the ethics committee; however, once Republicans won the House majority, the investigations were put on hold.
The conservative Supreme Court majority overruled the ATF’s ban on bump stocks, an attachment for semiautomatic rifles that allow them to fire at, and therefore kill at, the same rate as a machine gun.
Bump stocks had been federally banned by classifying them as machine guns, but the Supreme Court objected to that use of the law on the technicality that while the user doesn’t pull the trigger multiple times when using a bump stock, the stock causes the trigger to automatically fire in rapid succession whereas a machine gun requires only a single pull of the trigger.
To restore a federal ban on bump stocks will require Congress to pass a law, an unlikely outcome while Republicans hold the House majority. Several Republicans in Congress cheered on the Supreme Court’s decision.
While overall gun violence has been decreasing during Biden’s presidency, mass shootings continue to rise.
The most deadly mass shootings are often committed with AR-15-style weapons, which can have bump stocks attached to them. During the Orlando nightclub shooting, the shooter was able to get off 24 rounds in 9 seconds with an AR-15-style weapon. Attaching a bump stock allowed the Las Vegas shooter to release 90 rounds in 10 seconds.
The devastating Las Vegas shooter managed to quickly fire over 1,000 rounds into the crowd and kill over 60 people by having bump stocks on the majority of his rifles.