Whether one is inclined to agree with the jury’s verdict in the Hunter Biden case or not, the outcome uproots one of the Republican Party’s most important conspiracy theories. GOP officials desperately want Americans to believe that the Justice Department has been “weaponized” to target conservatives, creating a “two-tiered” system designed to protect Democrats and their allies.

The claims have long been absurd, but the federal prosecution of President Joe Biden’s son, led by a Trump-appointed prosecutor the Democratic incumbent left in place, leaves the entire argument looking ridiculous.

At least, that is, for reality-based observers. For Republicans fully committed to their conspiracy theory, the verdict simply offered a fresh opportunity to incorporate new information into their existing twisted framework. As The New Republic’s Greg Sargent summarized:

These Republicans start with the assumption that their conspiracy theories must be true — and cannot be proven untrue. Given that the Hunter Biden case, the Bob Menendez case, the Henry Cuellar case, the Cori Bush case, and the Eric Adams case make it painfully obvious that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Justice Department isn’t offering Democrats favorable treatment, it falls on GOP partisans to twist themselves into pretzels to deal with the cognitive dissonance.

“Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict is nothing more than the Left’s attempt to create the illusion of equal justice,” Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia wrote online. “Don’t fall for it.”

In other words, reality might give the impression the Biden administration is administering justice fairly, and the facts make it seem as if the Justice Department is honoring the rule of law appropriately, but Americans should perceive this as an elaborate ruse because — well, just because.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s campaign spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, called the guilty verdict “nothing more than a distraction” from what she said are the “real crimes” committed by Biden and his family. Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas called the conviction “smoke and mirrors from the Biden DOJ.” Former White House policy advisor Stephen Miller, indifferent to the apparent irony, argued, “Don’t be gaslit. This is all about protecting Joe Biden and only Joe Biden.”

At a House hearing held soon after the verdict in Delaware was announced, Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern tried to explain to his GOP colleagues how outlandish the party’s thinking has become.

“The only ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ going on around here is on the other side of the aisle,” the Massachusetts congressman explained. “People are saying that Biden orchestrated the conviction of his own son in order to justify the criminal charges against Trump. That is how you think when you are in a cult.”

It was a message Republicans probably needed to hear, even if they’re inclined to ignore the sensible rebuke.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com