Republican lawmakers and former President Donald Trump expressed disappointment and dissatisfaction with Tuesday’s guilty verdict for Hunter Biden on three felony gun charges, lamenting that federal prosecutors didn’t pursue charges related to the president’s son’s business activities.

“This trial has been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family, which has raked in tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia and Ukraine," Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt charged in a statement. "Crooked Joe Biden’s reign over the Biden Family Criminal Empire is all coming to an end on November 5th, and never again will a Biden sell government access for personal profit."

Trump himself was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to illegally influence the 2016 election late last month. 

Congressional Republicans have been investigating Hunter Biden and his father for years without producing evidence of criminal wrongdoing against either man or connecting the father to the son’s overseas business dealings. An impeachment probe into the president has all but fizzled out as claims of criminality have fallen short, including those by an FBI informant now facing charges for lying to authorities about the Bidens’ involvement with a Ukrainian energy company and alleged bribes that the FBI now says never took place.

“Today’s verdict is a step toward accountability but until the Department of Justice investigates everyone involved in the Bidens’ corrupt influence peddling schemes that generated over $18 million in foreign payments to the Biden family, it will be clear department officials continue to cover for the Big Guy, Joe Biden,” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said in a statement.

But other Republicans took it a step further, alleging that the verdict is a distraction effort.

Hard-right Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz called the conviction “kinda dumb.” South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace wrote on social media the guilty verdict and prosecution were part of a scheme to preserve “the veil of fairness in the Justice System” under President Joe Biden. Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk, an influential right-wing youth leader and close Trump ally, called the proceedings “a fake trial trying to make the Justice system appear ‘balanced.’” Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to Trump, said “the gun charges are a giant misdirection” and a ploy for the Department of Justice “to sell to a pliant media that is all too willing to be duped.”

“DOJ is running election interference for Joe Biden— that’s why DOJ did NOT charge Hunter with being an unregistered foreign agent (FARA) or any crime connected with foreign corruption. Why? Because all the evidence would lead back to JOE,” Miller wrote. “DOJ is Joe’s election protection racket.”

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, agreed with Miller and wrote that Democrats “will now point to Hunter’s conviction as evidence that ‘there’s no lawfare’” against Trump and other Republicans. Bernie Moreno, the Ohio GOP Senate candidate, argued the gun charges were a red herring to “insulate and protect” Joe Biden. Arizona congressional candidate Blake Masters, a close ally of right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel and the GOP’s unsuccessful nominee for an Arizona Senate seat in 2022, espoused a similar theory that the prosecution was “covering for the Bidens’ corruption.”

Hunter Biden was prosecuted by the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for Delaware, David Weiss, who was later appointed by Biden administration Attorney General Merrick Garland to continue the prosecution as an independent special counsel. The president’s son was convicted by a jury in Delaware on Tuesday of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer about his drug use, making a false claim on an application for a firearm and illegally possessing the gun for 11 days in 2018. 

Joe Biden said in a statement after the verdict that he “will accept the outcome of the case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.” First Lady Jill Biden attended the trial and was seen exiting the courthouse, holding hands with Hunter Biden after he learned of his convictions on Tuesday.

“As I said last week, I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery,” the president said. “Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that.”

Joe Biden said last week he would not pardon his son.

In a statement of his own, Hunter Biden said he was “disappointed” by the outcome and his attorney said they plan to challenge the verdict. 

Democratic lawmakers have largely avoided weighing in on the trial as it played out and continued to do so in the aftermath of the verdict. Even among the more prolific partisans, most chose not to immediately comment, though Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fl., implored Comer on social media to continue his -- so far, unsuccessful -- investigations into Hunter Biden.

“Please have more hearings,” Moskowitz wrote, punctuating his comment with an emoji of pleading hands.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.