A Democratic senator on Sunday endorsed the latest charges against President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, though he said he believes Americans will differentiate between Joe and Hunter Biden come election time.
"I think it’s legally justified," Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) said of the prosecution, in an interview with The Hill. "I think this is a very troubled individual who has, who has done things that are worthy of prosecution, and so I look forward to that case continuing."
The Department of Justice filed three felony and six misdemeanor charges related to tax crimes against Hunter Biden on Thursday. Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden's lawyer, responded to the charges by claiming that "if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought."
Murphy rejected that defense, but he also said the American people would differentiate between the president and his son when voting.
"Ultimately, the American people understand that Hunter Biden is not going to be on the ballot next fall—that Joe Biden is going to be on the ballot," Murphy told The Hill, "and that this is a president who has led an economic recovery that has been pretty unprecedented. That’s I think going to be what matters to the American people."
Murphy added that he believed the American public will see Hunter Biden "held accountable in court for any violations of the law that he’s committed" and that Americans will "see a distinct contrast between Joe Biden and Donald Trump."
A Harvard University poll conducted last month shows a majority of Americans associate Joe Biden with his son's finances. Sixty percent of respondents said they believe the president participated in Hunter Biden's business dealings.
The Justice Department alleged Thursday that Hunter Biden between 2016 and 2019 failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes he owed, while he spent exorbitant amounts of money, including on drugs and prostitutes.
It's the second round of charges Hunter Biden has received since Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss as a special counsel in the investigation into the first son. Weiss charged the president's son with felony gun charges in September.
Murphy's Sunday comments are in line with a trend that Politico reported on just before Weiss brought the September gun charges: Democrats have acknowledged Hunter Biden's troubled past while attempting to separate his record from that of his father.
"Hunter Biden may have very well done some improper things. He’s a disturbed man. Almost every president has had problematic family members," Rep. Jerry Nadler (D., N.Y.) said at the time.