Hunting Hunter (Biden) Plea
Hunting Hunter (Biden) Plea
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DC and Delaware 2.31pm
Memorizing every word in “Designated Survivor” (yes, Netflix Original Series; Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland), when the First Lady (portrayed by Natascha McElhone) interrogates monthly by FBI about her mother's possible involvement in a decades-old crime, I’m interested about case of Biden’s son, Robert Hunter Biden. If Robert Hunter Biden does some time in the slammer, then we get street cred better than the Trumps.
DOJ (US Department of Justice) and Robert Hunter Biden will still end up in a deal, but one thing that happened with the scuttled plea is the Brady discovery order went in. So Hunter's attorneys can ask about why DOJ said they could never charge this. Robert Hunter Biden still gets his deal, but blanket immunity - which was the most offensive provision - is off the table.
I suppose that counts as a win for justice. Saga started around 9am DC. As a starting point, the plea deal involved two crimes that are rarely charged as a federal crime— possessing a firearm while addicted to drugs and failing to pay taxes. Hunter was treated harshly.
Judge says she is not ready to accept Hunter Biden plea deal ... hearing ends with it on hold. Hunter Biden -- in pro forma move -- enters a plea of NOT guilty for the time being. Judge to Hunter Biden, “I know you wanted to resolve this. I’m sorry. But I need to make sure I am careful in my view of this.” He will still plead guilty to the tax misdemeanors for 2017 and 2018, but the agreement will also cover his tax-related conduct for the three years prior.
The two sides have agreed that this deal does not shield him from potential future charges. Nothing wrong with what the judge has done here. Nothing was rejected. There was legitimate inquiry into confusion about the scope of the plea. And now, she wants to review it further with the revised agreement.
Hunter was too clever by half. He got himself a deal even better than Epstein's - perpetual immunity without even house arrest. He should have agreed to a few months with an ankle bracelet. Even the softest judge can't stomach this.
Two big hiccups in court today: the first when DOJ said there were still possible charges, causing Team Hunter to balk but then accept it; the second when the judge had basic questions about the deal. GOP will seize on the second as showing the deal was flawed etc, but it be put back together again and essentially go away. But if a FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) violation is under investigation, it will give rise to public airing by GOP of supposed multiple statements by Hunter involving his father's name. GOP so desperate to imagine Biden won’t be the nominee they will concoct these little fantasies in their heads that there is an effort to boot Biden off the ticket. They will never forgive Biden for crushing their multi-indicted cult leader in the 2020 election.
That's the fuel today's hearing will permit GOP to pour on the fire. So the first hiccup was by far the more consequential. If some fast work may have re-sutured the Biden deal: Hunter side agrees that the agreement covers only 2014 to 2019 & only includes conduct related to tax offenses, drug use and gun possession. So DOJ can still investigate and bring FARA charges.
Earlier today, during a hearing when Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty, the plea deal was scuttled after the judge asked whether he would be immune from prosecution for other possible crimes as a result of the deal. Most of the time, these crimes aren’t worth federal prosecutors investigating or prosecuting. That said, they may be easy to prove in this case— there is likely no serious question that he didn’t fully pay his taxes and that he possessed the firearm while addicted to drugs. It’s easy to see why the defense agreed to this plea deal. It wasn’t worth contesting these crimes, and if this wrapped up the investigation, it was a good result for their client.
The prosecution said their investigation was “ongoing.” Presumably the defense believed, based on the information provided by prosecutors as well as informal statements made by them, that despite this statement, the prosecution had run down all the loose ends. It’s not unusual for these things to be fuzzy. Prosecutors can’t promise that they won’t find more evidence tomorrow, which will change their plans. The defense often had to rely on informal discussions and imperfect information. The judge’s question was fair, and the prosecution’s answer was accurate. This was not an immunity deal. But perhaps the way this has played out, along with public/GOP pressure on prosecutors to investigate Hunter Biden further, has the defense concerned.
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