Republicans in the House and the 2024 presidential primary field have decried the plea deal Hunter Biden, the president’s son, reached with federal prosecutors.
Biden is set to plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay income tax. He also agreed to a pretrial diversion program relating to a charge of unlawful possession of a weapon, which would likely be removed from his record upon completion of the program.
If accepted by a judge, the plea deal will likely keep Biden out of jail.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, “If you are the president’s leading political opponent, the DOJ [Department of Justice] tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time. But if you are the president’s son, you get a sweetheart deal.”
Former President Trump, who was federally indicted earlier this month over classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home, wrote in a Truth Social post, “Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere ‘traffic ticket.’ Our system is BROKEN!”
House Republicans have been investigating the Biden family’s business dealings “but have so far not produced evidence that the president directly benefited from those dealings or knew any details,” The Hill’s Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell wrote.
The president has previously denied knowledge of Hunter Biden’s business activities.
McCarthy said the plea deal won’t interfere with the House’s probes. “It actually should enhance our investigation because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now saying that there’s a pending investigation,” he said
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said the charges and “sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee’s investigation” and that the panel would “not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes are revealed.” Read more about the investigations here and here.
Several 2024 GOP presidential candidates besides Trump said the plea deal is an example of a biased justice system, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who consistently polls second behind Trump.
“Looks like Hunter received a sweetheart deal and is not facing any charges on the massive corruption allegations,” DeSantis tweeted. “If Hunter was not connected to the elite DC class he would have been put in jail a long time ago.” Read more 2024 candidates’ reactions here.
Chris Clark, an attorney for Hunter Biden, told MSNBC’s Katy Tur, “This was a five year, very diligent investigation pursued by incredibly professional prosecutors, some of whom have been career prosecutors, one of whom at least was appointed by President Trump.”