If there's anyone who was truly "shocked" by Hunter Biden's decision on Thursday to plead guilty to all charges in his California tax fraud case, they clearly haven't been paying attention. You might expect that after entering that many guilty pleas on charges that could bring 17 years behind bars (keeping in mind that he's already a convicted felon), a person might be feeling a bit down in the dumps. But that wasn't the case with the First Son yesterday. He was seen heading out to a ritzy Malibu restaurant with his entourage, smiling like a person without a care in the world. There probably isn't much of a mystery behind this appearance either because Hunter very likely doesn't have a care in the world. Things may have gone south for his father considerably over the past couple of months, but for Hunter, the timing likely couldn't be better, as we'll explore in a moment. (NY Post)

First son Hunter Biden appeared cheerful and upbeat Friday as he strolled into an upscale Malibu restaurant one day after pleading guilty to tax evasion charges in a Los Angeles courtroom.

Hunter, flanked by Secret Service agents, was spotted grinning ear to ear as he fumbled with his cellphone while heading to Moonshadows Malibu for lunch...

The first son’s post-confession outing didn’t appear to cause any sort of stir in the celebrity enclave by the Pacific Ocean.

As you likely saw in the headlines, Hunter said on Thursday that he entered the guilty pleas to “spare” his family from further “embarrassment." In reality, there may have been a lot more involved than simply further embarrassment and it probably would have involved many more Bidens than just his father. Keep in mind that the prosecution had intentionally decided to ignore potential FARA violations and - far more importantly - the source of all of that illicit income, focusing solely on unpaid taxes.

If Hunter had fought the charges tooth and nail, the prosecution could have begun producing records that followed the money trail, leading back to China, Ukraine, Russian oligarchs, and more. Plenty of other names including that of his Uncle Jim very likely would have begun showing up. The underlying corruption could potentially have been too obvious for even some in our left-leaning legacy media outlets to ignore. And why would they feel the need to cover all of this up further? Joe Biden has outlived his political usefulness to the party, a fact that plays into this story from more than one angle.

So was Hunter simply demonstrating selflessness in being willing to take the fall for all of them? Don't be silly. He now has felony convictions in two different states. Anyone with a surname other than Biden would be looking at a stay in the Crowbar Motel, but not Hunter. The timing of all of this, as I mentioned above, is perfect for him. Joe Biden is on his way out the door in a rather unceremonious fashion. But despite having repeatedly said that he would never pardon his son or commute his sentence, we all knew that wasn't true. While Scranton Joe was still in the running for another term, he needed to hold off on any such actions to avoid the toxic consequences of having that lie exposed along with the Democrats' endless mantra about how "no person is above the law." But now that Joe is out of the race but not out of office, he can issue those pardons whenever he likes, letting the chips fall where they may. Biden might consider still waiting until after the election just for the political optics, but he doesn't have to. Kamala can always say that she doesn't approve but she has no control over the outcome unless she's elected to the presidency. Then, no matter who wins the election, all of the Bidens get to ride off into the sunset to live in their beachside mansions, and the main players in Biden Inc. are never held accountable.

Just as a side note, these developments leave unanswered some questions related to the Secret Service. Let's just say that Hunter is sentenced in both cases and doesn't receive a pardon. How would they handle his Secret Service coverage? As an immediate family member, he remains entitled to SS protection. How do the agents protect him in a jail cell? We previously asked the same questions about Donald Trump and we still haven't been given an adequate answer because we're paddling around in uncharted waters here. Perhaps time will still tell.