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Hunter Biden was indicted twice. A claim that he and others have escaped criminal charges is wrong.
If Your Time is short
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Hunter Biden has been indicted twice on 12 criminal counts.
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People have also faced criminal charges for violent or destructive acts during the protests that followed George Floyd’s 2020 murder by a white police officer.
A social media post contrasted former President Donald Trump’s mounting criminal charges with what appeared to be a lack of legal consequences for other groups and people.
The April 17 Facebook post showed a screenshot of an April 16 X post from conservative activist Benny Johnson. His post listed people and groups he said had "0 indictments," including Hunter Biden, "COVID criminals" and "BLM rioters."
The post ended with: "Donald Trump — 91 indictments."
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
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(Screenshot from Facebook.)
Johnson’s post appears to have been deleted. He did not respond when PolitiFact asked why it had been deleted.
Trump was indicted on 91 felony counts but the post paints a misleading picture.
Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, has been indicted twice. In December, he was indicted on nine tax charges — three felonies and six misdemeanors — in California. He was also indicted in September on three other charges related to a gun he purchased in 2018.
It wasn’t immediately clear what Johnson meant by "COVID criminals" but available information shows it is inaccurate to claim no one faced criminal charges in COVID-19-related matters.
The U.S. Justice Department reported that as of April 2024 its COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force had "used a full range of tools to hold accountable fraudsters and other criminals" who abused economic relief measures the government established to support people and businesses during the pandemic. The efforts included charging more than 3,500 defendants with federal crimes in fraud cases related to unemployment insurance benefits and federal financial assistance programs made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, more commonly known as the CARES Act, including the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
Featured Fact-check
Some conservatives have used terms such as "BLM rioters," to refer to people who participated in nationwide protests that calledi for racial justice in summer 2020, after a white police officer murdered George Floyd, an unarmed Black man. "BLM" stands for "Black Lives Matter," which was a common refrain during the protests and the name of a related advocacy group. News reports and police reports show that although some violence, property destruction and looting occurred during the 2020 protests, most demonstrations were largely peaceful.
When the protests turned violent or destructive, however, law enforcement responded. The Justice Department reported in September 2020 that more than 300 people in 29 states and Washington, D.C., were charged "for crimes committed adjacent to or under the guise of peaceful demonstrations since the end of May."
People were charged with offenses related to arson and explosives, assaulting law enforcement officers and damaging federal property, according to the department’s statement.
Trump faces dozens of criminal charges, but it’s inaccurate to claim that others including Hunter Biden and people who broke laws during protests in 2020 were never charged with any crimes.
We rate that claim False.
RELATED: A fact-checker’s guide to Trump’s first criminal trial: business records, hush money and a gag order
RELATED: Hunter Biden has been indicted twice, but he has not been sentenced to prison
Our Sources
Facebook post, April 17, 2024
PolitiFact, Trump’s indictment, explained: Falsifying business records, prosecutors’ challenges, and what’s next, April 5, 2023
PolitiFact, Trump indictment involves more than 300 classified documents, not ‘a couple dozen,’ June 13, 2023
CNN, Donald Trump's criminal cases, in one place, April 16, 2024
The Associated Press, Here’s where all the cases against Trump stand as he campaigns for a return to the White House, Feb. 28, 2024
CNN, Special counsel brings more charges against Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, July 28, 2023
PolitiFact, A fact-checker’s guide to Trump’s first criminal trial: business records, hush money and a gag order, April 11, 2024
PolitiFact, Hunter Biden has been indicted twice, but he has not been sentenced to prison, Dec. 21, 2023
The Associated Press, Hunter Biden is indicted on 9 tax charges, adding to gun charges in a special counsel investigation, Dec. 8, 2023
CNN, Hunter Biden indicted on gun charges, Sept. 15, 2023
CNN, Read: Hunter Biden indictment on gun charges, Sept. 14, 2023
CNN, Hunter Biden’s universe of legal problems, briefly explained, Dec. 8, 2023
BBC, Hunter Biden: The legal troubles of the US president's son, Dec. 7, 2023
U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs, Justice Department Announces Results of Nationwide COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Action, Aug. 23, 2023
U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs, Fact Sheet: COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force 2024 Report, April 9, 2024
PolitiFact, The death of George Floyd: What you need to know, May 29, 2020
PolitiFact, The guilty verdict against Derek Chauvin, explained, April 20, 2021
PolitiFact, How George Floyd protests evolved in 5 major cities, June 10, 2020
The Washington Post, Critics claim BLM protests were more violent than 1960s civil rights ones. That’s just not true, Oct. 12, 2022
U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs, Over 300 People Facing Federal Charges For Crimes Committed During Nationwide Demonstrations, Sept. 24, 2020
NPR, Judge in Georgia election interference case quashes some charges against Trump, March 13, 2023
PolitiFact, 3 key differences between Donald Trump’s Georgia indictment and his other 3, Aug. 15, 2023
PolitiFact, Was Trump indicted for everyday actions, as allies claimed? Not according to Georgia indictment, Aug. 16, 2023
The Washington Post, Georgia judge dismisses six charges in Trump election interference case, March 13, 2024
PBS, A Guide to the Criminal Cases Against Donald Trump, Jan. 30, 2024
The Washington Post, How 91 felony charges boosted Trump’s standing in the GOP, Oct. 13, 2023
U.S. Justice Department, Covid-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force 2024 Report, April 2024
PolitiFact, Instagram post misleads on monthly coronavirus checks, May 20, 2020
U.S. Small Business Administration, COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan, accessed April 24, 2024
ProPublica, Tracking PPP, accessed April 24, 2024
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Hunter Biden was indicted twice. A claim that he and others have escaped criminal charges is wrong.
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