Democrats wept viciously as Republicans urged a judge to reject a plea deal during Hunter Biden’s dramatic appearance — claiming that his business exploits will have no political repercussions for President Biden.
In an expected turn of events, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to tax and gun crimes Wednesday when the judge informed him he would not be shielded from future prosecution.
The scandal-stricken first son is still in jail for all crimes related to foreign deals with China and Ukraine after the judge struck down the first deal that would have protected him from future charges and prevented him from going to jail, dramatically rejected.
House Democrats shunned the first son’s defense, but argued that Hunter’s deviant behavior did not reflect on the president.
“Nothing that has surfaced in the last seven months of this fishing expedition has touched the President of the United States. Nothing,” said Jamie Raskin, top Democrat on the Oversight Committee who has insulted his party on the GOP-led committee on family business investigations since the Republicans won the majority.
Democrats yelled viciously at Republicans urging a judge to reject a plea deal during Hunter Biden’s dramatic appearance — claiming his corporate exploits will have no effect on President Biden
Does Hunter Biden have his legal troubles as an adult of age who was addicted to drugs and got involved in many questionable activities? Yes. So what, I mean every family in America has had their own problems with alcohol,” he told DailyMail.com.
Raskin slammed Republicans for trying to intervene in the case after Ways and Means chairman Jason Smith filed an amicus brief asking the judge to consider damning IRS whistleblower testimony and reject the “sweetheart” plea deal.
“I found it amazing that people in the legislative branch of government not only tried to get involved in a pending case, but also tried to get involved in a settlement agreement. You know, I don’t know if it’s unprecedented, but it sure is shocking.’
U.S. Attorney Leo Wise said one area that would not be covered by the plea deal would be the Foreign Assets Registration Act (FARA) charges, which could be implicated by the series of high-flying business deals U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika sparked. read in the trial report Wednesday in Wilmington.
Nevertheless, if Hunter’s legal team and prosecutors can negotiate a plea deal, he could find a way to put his tax issues and a gun charge behind him.
“Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty, we’ll have to see what happens,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat and member of the Oversight Committee, told DailyMail.com.
“These are clearly serious charges against him. We’ll have to see where it goes. No one is above the law – Democrats have said this all the time. I look forward to the next indictment against Trump.”
In an expected turn of events, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to tax and gun crimes Wednesday when the judge informed him he would not be shielded from future prosecution.
Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating Trump over his actions to reverse his loss to Joe Biden. An official at the federal court in Washington, where the grand jury investigating Trump sits, said no charges will be filed Thursday — despite speculation.
Last week, a pair of IRS whistleblowers testified that the Biden family had accepted about $17 million in foreign business deals.
An FBI document released by Republicans last week details a conversation between a confidential source and Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky in which the executive claimed his company paid $5 million each to Hunter and Joe Biden in exchange for the then Vice President who urged Ukraine to fire Viktor Shokin. – an allegedly corrupt prosecutor who was investigating Burisma.
The document has not been verified — and Democrats insist the allegations had already been investigated by the FBI when the agency received a similar tip from Rudy Giuliani.
This week, speaker Kevin McCarthy sent shockwaves through the conference when he suggested that the investigation into the Biden family business deals “could rise to the level of impeachment inquiry.”
“They’re kind of out of control here,” Ivey said, praising declining inflation and recession fears.
“They’ve been trying for six or seven months now, they don’t seem to get it. Meanwhile, the Biden administration appears to be doing quite well, especially with regard to the economy.”
“I think the Democrats, especially in the House of Representatives, feel very good about where we are.”
Dan Goldman, a former New York federal prosecutor, dismissed the plea deal blowout as a “routine technical dispute.”
“I don’t think it has anything to do with any new news or any outside influence,” he added, dismissing the idea that the judge had considered whistleblower statements while slamming Republicans for intervening.
Republicans continue to try to intervene in Justice Department proceedings, primarily to defend Donald Trump from the halls of Congress, but now also to attack Donald Trump’s enemies. And they continue to abuse their power and overstep their authority.”
Biden on Thursday ignored a question about whether the Justice Department had struck his son’s plea deal after the judge uncovered differing interpretations between the two legal teams about what conduct would be barred from prosecution.
The president’s son left court on Wednesday without speaking to the media, and his legal team also remained silent.
Earlier on Thursday, there was no focus on how Biden might handle his son’s legal troubles in a second term, but how his rival Donald Trump would proceed if he steps back in.
The plea deal that a federal judge blew up in court Wednesday included a feature that appears to be designed to impose guardrails against attempts by a would-be Donald Trump administration to overrun it.
Trump has been furious for years against what he calls the “Biden crime family” and Hunter in particular, and has vowed to settle scores if he gets the White House back. He now conducts periodic interrogations against former Attorney General Barr, who stepped down weeks before the end of Trump’s term after reversing his allegations of voter fraud.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika repeatedly fired parts of the agreement Tuesday during a three-hour hearing with Hunter Biden and his attorneys in her Wilmington courtroom. Notably, this included a provision that she said would put her in the middle of disputes over a “diversion agreement” that would allow Hunter to avoid prosecution for gun possession.
She was especially incensed that she would later get involved, but Hunter and government lawyers told her she had no part in approving the terms of his tax crime plea deal to which he would plead guilty.
One of the provisions she ranted against was a paragraph about a possible breach of the deal to defer prosecution on a gun charge – and who would decide if Hunter violated it.
Normally, the prosecutors would make the decision. But according to the language being pushed by Hunter’s team, if the government believes there has been a “knowing material breach” of the agreement, it would seek a decision from the U.S. District Judge in Delaware – Noreika.
They would seek a determination based on a “preponderance of the evidence,” and if they get one, they could be charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, or other criminal offenses.
The judge called the deal “non-standard” and said it could be unconstitutional by giving her a role normally filled by prosecutors themselves, who are part of the executive branch.
The judge had federal prosecutor Leo Wise read from the agreement in open court, and Politics receive the entire document.
“I don’t want to violate the separation of powers or do anything (un)constitutional,” the judge said. She also said she had never seen a diversion deal “so broad” as to include crimes in any other case.
The judge was appointed by Trump, but was recommended by two Democratic senators. She received praise Tuesday from former Robert Mueller top prosecutor Andrew Weissmann for her courtroom performance, who called her work “exceptional.”