WASHINGTON ― Republicans have argued for months that President Joe Biden has “weaponized” the U.S. Department of Justice against former President Donald Trump and his supporters.

On Tuesday morning, federal prosecutors announced criminal charges against the president’s son, Hunter Biden ― but Republicans claimed the charges are further evidence of a double standard.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters the fact that Hunter Biden got a “sweetheart deal” while Trump faces a long prison sentence is evidence of a supposedly “two tier” system of justice. McCarthy’s colleagues echoed the two-tier message.

“Let’s be clear: the Department of Justice’s charges against President Biden’s son Hunter reveals a two-tiered system of justice,” House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement.

“Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery,” Comer said.

According to court filings by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a Trump appointee, the younger Biden will plead guilty to willfully failing to pay federal taxes and enter a diversion program to resolve a felony charge of unlawfully possessing a firearm while addicted to illegal drugs. (Biden has been open about his past drug use.)

The supposed weaponization of the Justice Department, as it pursues charges against Trump and against more than a thousand of his supporters for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, has been a top talking point among Republicans for months. Tuesday’s reaction to the prosecution of the president’s own son suggests the talking point is impervious to reality.

For years, Republicans have argued Hunter Biden’s membership on the board of the Ukrainian oil company Burisma from 2014 to 2019 represented a conflict of interest because his father was active on Ukraine policy as vice president. An investigation by Senate Republicans in 2020 detailed concerns among State Department officials but failed to turn up evidence of actual corruption.

Using bank records obtained through subpoenas, Comer has claimed Hunter Biden spun a web of phony enterprises through which he funneled millions in payments from foreign nationals to himself and other members of the family, but not President Biden himself.

In recent weeks, Comer has demanded that the FBI release an unverified tip that a Ukrainian oligarch ― most likely former Burisma head Mykola Zlochevsky — claimed to have paid a $5 million bribe to Joe Biden. Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the oversight committee’s top Democrat, has said FBI officials told him the allegation was meritless; Comer has claimed the FBI is actively investigating the allegation.

“We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes are revealed,” Comer said Tuesday.

Other Republicans also described the criminal charges against Hunter Biden as further evidence that the Justice Department is protecting the Bidens.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called the Biden criminal charges a “stunt” and complained that the Justice Department “refuses to prosecute Joe Biden and Hunter for taking bribes from Ukrainian oligarchs and raking in tens of millions of dollars from foreign countries.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) suggested it is unfair Hunter Biden faces less jail time than Trump does in his indictment related to obstructing an FBI investigation into his hoarding of classified documents.

“So Hunter Biden gets a special plea deal, slap on the wrist — probably won’t do a day of time — while DOJ charges Trump as a spy and tries to put him in prison forever,” Hawley tweeted. “Two standards of ‘justice.’”

House oversight committee member Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) said in a press release the younger Biden was accepting responsibility for crimes that are “virtually never charged” by federal prosecutors.

“It is also clear that the U.S. Attorney’s exhaustive examination of Hunter Biden’s finances found no wrongdoing connected to President Biden, further debunking the rumors, hearsay, and innuendo coming from House Republicans,” Goldman said.