Hunter Biden’s legal team has vowed to put President Joe Biden on the stand to testify as a witness for his son’s defense if he faces criminal charges.
Christopher Clark, Hunter’s criminal attorney at the time, made the claim in October 2022 in a 32-page letter to prosecutors.
It came shortly after news leaked that the Justice Department had enough evidence to oppose his client from moving ahead with an indictment.
Clark warned that if the DOJ brought charges against Hunter regarding the alleged purchase of an illegal firearm while addicted to cocaine, there would be no hesitation in putting Biden on the witness stand.
“President Biden would now undoubtedly be a fact-witness for the defense in any criminal trial,” Clark wrote in the letter obtained by Politics.
Hunter Biden’s legal team has vowed to put President Joe Biden on the stand to testify as a witness for his son’s defense if he faces criminal charges. Biden has so far shown a united front with his family amid the legal woes
Hunter pleaded not guilty to federal tax and gun charges in late July after a previous plea deal fell apart. Republicans had widely criticized the previous deal as far too lenient.
In the letter to the prosecution, Clark appeared to fend off the DOJ by raising the prospect of Biden’s testimony.
He argued that proceeding with a criminal trial would force Biden to testify in violation of his own Justice Department, something he said would result in a “constitutional crisis.”
“This of all cases justifies neither the spectacle of a sitting president testifying at a criminal trial nor the potential for a resulting constitutional crisis,” Clark wrote.
Christopher Clark, Hunter’s criminal attorney at the time, made the claim in October 2022 in a 32-page letter to prosecutors
The plea was withdrawn by Judge Maryellen Noreika over concerns about ongoing investigations into other possible crimes committed by Hunter.
Clark and his team have told prosecutors many times in the previous months that they were concerned about the politics surrounding the case.
They expressed concern about Republican pressure and the potential to tarnish the DOJ’s reputation if Biden went up against his own Justice Department.
The plea deal that should have concluded the long-running investigation into the first son was largely unraveled in a controversial court hearing last month.
The plea deal was dismissed as a “sweetheart deal” by Republicans who are continuing their own congressional investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter’s business dealings and the Justice Department’s handling of the case.
The agreement was originally for Hunter to plead guilty to failing to pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018, and face probation in lieu of jail time for the count of felonies.
A separate agreement was to spare him prosecution for the 2018 felony drug user possession of a gun if he stayed out of trouble for two years.
After the plea deal fell through earlier this month, Weiss Noreika prosecutors asked that the Delaware indictment be dismissed so that new charges could potentially be filed in California or Washington, DC.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys agreed that the charges should be dismissed because they had only been filed in Delaware as part of the prior plea deal. Noreika approved the procedural request on Thursday.
Hunter’s legal counsel expressed concern over Republican pressure and the potential to tarnish the DOJ’s reputation — if Biden went up against his own Justice Department
The case comes against the backdrop of the Justice Department’s indictments against former President Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s main rival in next year’s election.
The fate of a separate but related deal to resolve a gun possession charge is still unclear.
Prosecutors said the deal never went into effect, but Hunter’s legal counsel claims it is still valid and binding.
Noreika will have to decide the status of the deal and call on prosecutors to drop the gun charges within two years if Hunter stayed out of legal trouble and passed drug tests.
Clark also this week asked a federal judge for permission to withdraw from the case because he could now be called as a witness in future proceedings, it remains unclear whether the leaked document also played a role in the decision.
“Based on recent developments, it appears that the negotiation and drafting of the plea deal and diversion agreement will be contested, and Mr. Clark is a perceptive witness to those issues,” Biden’s attorneys said in the filing.
Since his motion to withdraw, Clark has been replaced by Abbe Lowell.
Attorney General Merrick Garland’s surprise announcement last week that Weiss was appointed as special counsel raised new questions about the case ahead of the 2024 election.
Hunter’s history of drug use and financial dealings has cast a dark cloud over his father’s political career.
The case comes against the backdrop of the Justice Department’s indictments against former President Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s main rival in next year’s election.
Trump has been charged and awaits trial in two separate cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
One is Trump’s refusal to turn over classified documents stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The other involves allegations of fraud and conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election in the run-up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
In Hunter’s case, prosecutors made no allegations or allegations against the president in investigating his son’s affairs.
Joe Biden has made closeness to his family a key tenet of his public brand – and has said repeatedly that he tries to talk to all of his children and grandchildren every day – the family can be seen on Independence Day at the White House
Hunter is expected to face trial in Washington DC or Southern California
House Republicans have tried to link Hunter Biden’s work to his father, but have been unable to provide evidence to show wrongdoing.
The Biden family has presented a united front amid Hunter’s legal woes.
On July 26, the day Hunter was due to enter a plea deal, White House aides deliberately left room in the president’s schedule so he could follow the trial.
Some worried about exposing Biden to the press as the hearing unfolded — he did not appear in public that day.
When the plea deal fell through, aides began to worry that the president’s primary support system — his wife — was traveling out of the country that day.
The president has stood by his son before — even contradicting the terms of the original plea deal by claiming he had done nothing wrong.
“My son has done nothing wrong,” Biden said in May. ‘I trust him. I have faith in him. And it affects my presidency because I’m proud of him.”
Joe Biden has made closeness to his family a key tenet of his public brand — and has said repeatedly that he tries to talk to all of his children and grandchildren every day.
Hunter’s 29-year-old daughter Naomi and her then-fiancée Peter Neal lived at the White House last year prior to their on-site wedding. It is not clear whether they still live there.
People close to the Biden family said they fear the continued scrutiny of Hunter, a recovering drug addict, could lead him to make “damaging” decisions.
The first son has retained a relatively high prestige, even as legal problems pile up. He accompanied Biden on a trip to Ireland with Air Force 1 in April and attended state dinners at the White House.
Hunter is expected to face trial in Washington DC or Southern California.