In a move that formalizes what many see as the inevitable fallout of years of scandal, a Connecticut judge on Monday officially disbarred Hunter Biden for violations of the state’s attorney conduct code—stemming from his now-infamous federal gun and tax crimes. The decision brings Connecticut in line with Washington, D.C., where Biden was disbarred earlier this year, and it punctuates a years-long saga of criminal behavior, political controversy, and public frustration.
Judge Trial Referee Patrick L. Carroll III issued the ruling from Waterbury Superior Court after Biden did not contest the action. Under the agreement, he admitted to attorney misconduct but crucially did not admit to any criminal wrongdoing—a legalistic dodge that reflects the privilege and protection the president’s son has enjoyed at nearly every step.
Let’s be clear: the misconduct in question isn’t minor. Hunter Biden is now a convicted felon on multiple fronts. He was found guilty of three federal gun charges in June 2024 and pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges, including three felonies, just three months later. These are not technical violations or ethics slip-ups.
They are serious offenses, and they speak directly to what Rule 8.4 of Connecticut’s Rules of Professional Conduct forbids: criminal acts involving dishonesty, fraud, and actions reflecting poorly on an attorney’s fitness to practice law.
But perhaps the most telling part of this entire episode is what didn’t happen. There was no courtroom statement from Hunter Biden. No expression of remorse. No attempt to reclaim any public trust. Just a quiet disbarment, quietly accepted, quietly buried beneath the weight of a presidential pardon that covered nearly every federal crime he may have committed over a full decade—from 2014 to 2024.
That blanket pardon, issued by President Joe Biden on December 4, 2024, erased any lingering threat of prison time. It spared Hunter from what could have been up to 42 years in prison across both sets of charges. And it drew a sharp line under what many see as the two-tiered nature of justice in America: one system for the well-connected, and another for everyone else.
Critics of the negotiated disbarment agreement, including complainant Paul Dorsey, were quick to note the absence of any real accountability. “There was no doubt in my mind” about the need for discipline, Dorsey said, adding that he initially gave Biden “the benefit of the doubt.” That grace has now run out.
Meanwhile, Daniel R. Suhr, of the Center for American Rights, filed the other grievance that helped prompt the action. And while the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel supported the disbarment agreement, there was no effort to claw back the truth Hunter Biden will never have to say in court.
No statement from the court. No apology from the disbarred. Just the slow closing of another chapter in a political dynasty that seems to operate above the laws it expects everyone else to follow.
