When Hunter Biden reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to charges related to tax debt and making false claims on a form used to purchase a firearm, Republican critics began speculating that President Joe Biden’s son received a “sweetheart deal” based on his political connections.
New details about the secretive deal emerged when the matter went before Judge Maryellen Noreika, who refused to implement its terms as presented. She cited problematic issues including an apparent immunity clause that could shield Hunter Biden from future prosecution for other alleged crimes.
Rep. Byron Donalds points out that Devon Archer's statement supports the evidence of Hunter Biden receiving millions as an unregistered foreign agent, violating FARA.
The DOJ's sweetheart deal aimed to protect Hunter from future FARA prosecution.
Furthermore, Rep. Donalds… pic.twitter.com/Jhu7YG8I8K
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) August 1, 2023
Now, the House Republicans who chair the Judiciary Committee, Oversight and Accountability Committee, and Ways and Means Committee are working to get to the bottom of the controversial deal by demanding relevant information from the Department of Justice.
After Noreika expressed her misgivings about the arrangement, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), James Comer (R-KY), and Jason Smith (R-MO) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, giving him two weeks to provide responses to a slate of questions related to its terms.
“The Department’s unusual plea and pretrial diversion agreements with Mr. Biden raise serious concerns—especially when combined with recent whistleblower allegations—that the Department has provided preferential treatment toward Mr. Biden in the course of its investigation and proposed resolution of his alleged criminal conduct,” they wrote.
Among the dozen questions listed in the letter, the lawmakers have asked for specific details about how common — or uncommon — such clauses are among plea deals the agency has reached in recent years.
One two-part question listed in the document asks: “Other than Mr. Biden’s case, how many times in the last ten years has any unit of the Department included in a pretrial diversion agreement an agreement not to prosecute crimes that are unrelated to the charges being diverted? What percentage of the total pretrial diversion agreements entered into by the Department does that number represent?”
For its part, the White House has sought to distance itself as much as possible from the brewing controversy.
“Hunter Biden is a private citizen, and this was a personal matter for him,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “As we have said, the president, the first lady, they love their son and they support him as he continues to rebuild his life. This case was handled independently as all of you know by the Justice Department under the leadership of a prosecutor appointed by the former president, President Trump.”
