Fox News has said it has filed a request for a mugshot of Hunter Biden to be released to the public, after news emerged that the president’s son now faces federal felony charges after an attempted plea deal fell through.
Jesse Watters, the anchor who took over the network’s prime time spot after the departure of Tucker Carlson earlier this year, informed his viewers on Tuesday that Fox News had submitted a Freedom of Information request to have the image, apparently taken in July, released, and questioned why it had not already been made public.
“It turns out Hunter Biden has a mugshot,” Watters said, before speculating: “So, what is so special about a mugshot that they don’t want us to see? Did he smile? Did he look defiant? In light of transparency, this mugshot must be released.”
Watters then offered some qualifying comments, saying: “Sources tell us that federal inmates rarely have their mugshots released to the public—only in cases where the federal inmate escapes, and a leak would be very unlikely.”
Hunter Biden appears at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 26, 2023. Fox News has said it has filed a request for a mugshot of Biden to be released to the public after news emerged that he now faces federal felony charges.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Joe Biden’s son was charged with one count of possessing a firearm while being addicted to a controlled substance in 2018, as well as two misdemeanor tax offenses, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Wilmington, Delaware, announced in June.
It said Hunter Biden’s income for 2017 and 2018 was “in excess” of $1.5 million each year, but that he did not pay over $200,000 in federal income tax across the two years.
Biden had agreed to plead guilty to the two misdemeanors to avoid being prosecuted on the felony charge, but the deal collapsed during a court hearing in late July. If convicted, he faces a potential lengthy prison sentence and would be the first child of a sitting president to be jailed.
On Tuesday, his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote in a letter to a judge that Biden will plead not guilty and was “not seeking any special treatment.”
He also noted that during his July court appearance, Biden was processed at the courthouse by the U.S. Marshals Service including “the usual procedures (e.g., submitted to multiple sets of fingerprints, had his photograph taken, and filled out the required forms for release).”
The statement appears to suggest that a mugshot was, in fact, taken of Biden, but it remains unclear as to why it has not been released to the public.
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