‘A Quarter-Century of Prison Time!’ CNN’s Erin Burnett Lays Hunter Biden’s ‘Serious’ Charges — And The ‘Shaky Ground’ They’re On

CNN anchor Erin Burnett pointed out the “serious charges” against Hunter Biden carry sentences of up to “a quarter-century of prison time!” — but also described the “shaky ground” they rest on.

News broke Thursday afternoon that Special Counsel Davis Weiss has secured a grand jury indictment against Hunter Biden on three charges related to his purchase of a firearm.

Burnett prefaced her interview with Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell on Thursday night’s edition of CNN’s OutFront by laying out the “very serious” charges — and the constitutional jeopardy those charges present:

This is the first time in American history that the Justice Department has filed charges against the son of a sitting president.

And I want to begin by laying out exactly what these history making charges are. When purchasing a gun in 2018, Hunter Biden lied on a federal form that he was not using it and he was not addicted to any illegal drugs. That was untrue. He has since admitted that he was struggling with crack cocaine addiction at that time.

So, tonight, he is charged with three crimes, two counts for false statements and a third for possessing a gun while addicted to drugs. Now, if convicted on all counts, Hunter Biden could theoretically face as many as 25 years in prison and fines of up to three quarters of a million dollars.

Now, let’s just be clear here, the charges could be on shaky legal ground. Why? Well, the gun possession law that Biden is accused of breaking for one was declared unconstitutional by an appeals court ruling in August.

And as for the charges themselves, overall, they are a huge about-face because they come after the DOJ had announced a plea deal with Hunter Biden. And in that deal, Biden was going to plead guilty to the gun charges but get no prison time. It collapsed in a stunning court hearing back in July.

So, now, it is full on charges, which again, on paper, can carry a quarter century of prison time. This is a serious business.

Lowell has previously said the charges are the result of political pressure from ex-President Donald Trump and others, that a prior diversion agreement is still in effect for the gun issue, that the charge had never been brought as a “standalone” by Weiss’s office, and the law has since been ruled unconstitutional by an appeals court — points he and Burnett went on to discuss.

Watch above via CNN’s OutFront.