Now that Hunter Biden’s plea deal has fallen through, he faces federal felony charges, and he, of course, has a mugshot. Which Fox News is after. The conservative news channel said it has filed a request to obtain the mugshot.

I wonder if Fox News was in the same hurry to obtain Donald Trump’s mugshot. Just a question.

Jesse Watters, who took over Tucker Carlson’s prime-time spot after he was canned earlier this year, told viewers on Tuesday that Fox News has submitted a Freedom of Information request to have the image, which was apparently taken in July, released, and questioned why it has yet to be made public.

Frankly, that is weird. Why hasn’t it appeared in public?

“It turns out Hunter Biden has a mugshot,” Watters said, before wondering: “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 qualified his remarks by noting: “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.”

The younger Biden 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 noted in a June announcement.

The office also reported that 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 over that two-year period.

Biden had tried to broker a plea deal, agreeing to plead guilty to the two misdemeanors to avoid prosecution on the felony charge, but the deal fell through during a court hearing in late July. If convicted, he faces a potentially lengthy prison sentence. As such, this would make him the first child of a sitting president to be imprisoned. Of course, President Joe Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump has acquired a roster of impressive firsts himself, with two impeachments and four indictments, and is still awaiting the first of several trials to begin. This has never happened to any other president in U.S. history, so these definitely are an impressive set of “firsts.”

On Tuesday, Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote in a letter to a judge that Biden plans to plead not guilty and that he is “not seeking any special treatment.”

Lowell also added that during his court appearance in July, Biden was processed at the courthouse by the U.S. Marshals Service and this included “the usual procedures (e.g., submitted to multiple sets of fingerprints, had his photograph taken, and filled out the required forms for release).”

Quite obviously, the statement seemingly says a mugshot was taken but it remains unclear as to why it has not been released to the public.

Newsweek contacted the U.S. Marshals Service in an email for comment. According to Kim Reeves, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware, the Department of Justice policy “prohibits my office from providing photographs of defendants prosecuted in federal court.”

Some on social media, including former Georgia Republican state lawmaker Vernon Jones, are drawing comparisons between the apparent withholding of Hunter Biden’s mugshot and the release of Donald Trump’s now infamous one after he was arraigned in Georgia in August.

The ex-president was processed on charges stemming from allegations of a conspiracy to unlawfully overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, and his mugshot was released shortly after.

Trump, of course, denies any wrongdoing in any of the cases against him and is even using his mugshot to raise money for his campaign.

Lowell has argued that the charges against Biden were politically motivated by “improper and partisan interference” that was instigated by MAGA Republicans. And District Judge Maryellen Noreika is a Trump appointee. She rejected the plea deal.

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions regarding that last part. I don’t know how Hunter Biden will fare, but justice needs to be served whether it’s Biden or Trump.

Period.

🚨 BREAKING: Hunter Biden has a mugshot, Jesse Watters says he has put in a FOIA request with the DOJ and US Marshals to have it released. pic.twitter.com/6OSzEi3Mo6

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 20, 2023