“Two tiers of justice.” Those are the words that cross my mind when I think about the Biden Department of Justice’s (DOJ) indictment of former President Trump. Watching this ordeal play out has exposed the disturbing reality of life under President Biden: if your last name isn’t Biden or Clinton, you could be targeted next.

Remember when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton kept a private email server in her basement? On the server, Clinton wrote over 100 classified emails that we know of, but the true number may never be known. Why? Because Secretary Clinton used BleachBit, a computer disk space cleaner, to permanently destroy 33,000 emails. Her aide even took a hammer to multiple old phones, ostensibly to hide incriminating evidence. But when the American people demanded accountability, former FBI Director James Comey announced that, despite the fact that Clinton was “extremely careless” in her handling of classified emails, “our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.” 

The double standard doesn’t end there. President Biden kept classified documents at several locations including the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and in his garage next to his Corvette. Storing classified documents in a garage is as “careless” as it gets. But where was the raid on Biden’s home?

Unsurprisingly, President Biden’s classified documents scandal is far from his most egregious offense. This month, we learned he allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with an executive at Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. According to a form presented to the FBI by a confidential source, Biden and his son, Hunter, were each paid $5 million in exchange for access to their political influence. The executive allegedly told then-Vice President Biden to pressure Ukrainian officials to fire a prosecutor investigating Burisma. To conceal this alleged pay-for-play scheme, the Burisma executive paid the Bidens "through so many different bank accounts" that investigators would be unable to uncover the scheme for “at least 10 years." 

According to the unredacted documents turned over by a whistleblower to my colleague Senator Chuck Grassley, that Burisma executive kept recordings of 17 separate conversations with Joe and Hunter Biden as an insurance policy. Last week, when I questioned FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate about those documents, he admitted that the FBI concealed evidence of the recordings from the House Oversight Committee. Since the FBI has taken no public action to investigate Biden’s criminal activities, I called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to probe the Biden family’s shady business dealings. The American people deserve to know that these disturbing allegations will be investigated fairly and independently, and the appointment of a special counsel will do just that.

We also have an obligation to trace the roots of this years-long cover-up. The FBI has possessed the form detailing the alleged bribery scheme since June 30, 2020, and they have resisted cooperation at every turn. The agency even went so far as to stonewall congressional oversight before ultimately turning over a heavily redacted document under threat of being held in contempt of Congress. What is the FBI trying to hide? 

Hunter Biden reached a deal to plead guilty to two federal misdemeanor counts and will likely negotiate an agreement with the DOJ regarding a felony gun possession charge. Hunter is not expected to face any jail time for his crimes. The gun-related charge – possessing a handgun despite Hunter knowing he was a drug user – carries a maximum sentence of ten years. Yet, Hunter will most likely get off scot-free. It is crystal clear why: Hunter has the last name “Biden.” His status as the son of a Democratic president shields him from any accountability. This is the most recent example of two tiers of justice at play.

Instead of investigating prominent Democratic politicians who likely engaged in criminal activity, this administration and the FBI are instead going after conservatives and Biden’s political opponents. The DOJ labeled concerned parents “domestic terrorists,” while the FBI arrested a pro-life advocate in front of his wife and children and raided the home of a former president and national political candidate. The Biden administration has even allocated funding for 87,000 new IRS agents to ensure the agency has the bandwidth to harass families and small business owners. These aren’t the actions of a fair and impartial federal government. Rather, this is the behavior of a politicized, bureaucratic cabal that has been weaponized to target parents concerned about their children’s education, people of faith, and pro-life individuals.

The message the FBI and the DOJ are sending to Americans is clear: the liberal elite are untouchable, but those who stand against the leftist agenda are prime targets. The liberal media and Democratic politicians have remained silent about the Biden administration’s two tiers of justice, but I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure every American receives the transparency and justice under the law that they deserve.