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- Trump and other Republicans slammed a plea deal that will reportedly keep Hunter Biden out of jail.
- Federal prosecutors announced a plea deal for the president’s son on Tuesday.
- A top GOP lawmaker emphasized that the deal will not end his committee’s investigation of the Biden family.
Former President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers on Tuesday slammed Hunter Biden’s plea deal with federal prosecutors, making it clear that they are far from done investigating and attacking the president’s son.
“Wow! The corrupt Biden DOJ just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere ‘traffic ticket,'” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth.
Federal prosecutors announced that Biden agreed to plead guilty to two criminal misdemeanors of failing to pay income tax. Biden is also facing a felony gun charge for illegal possession of a firearm. According to a court document, Biden agreed to enter a pretrial diversion program for that charge, meaning he could avoid jail time and the charge might be dismissed later if Biden follows the agreement. It’s important to note that a federal judge must still approve the deal.
Trump himself appointed David Weiss, a US attorney who led the Justice Department’s investigation into Biden. Attorney General Merrick Garland previously testified that Weiss had the “full authority” to make the decision on whether to charge Hunter Biden. A spokesperson for Weiss’ office declined to comment.
Hunter Biden reportedly has a tax liability of $1.2 million, and beyond the evidence gathered, prosecutors had weighed whether others had been prosecuted for similar levels of tax evasion.
Many conservatives condemned the plea deal. House Oversight Chairman James Comer, who is leading the GOP House’s probe into the Biden family’s business dealings, emphasized that his investigation is not over.
“Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery,” Comer said in a statement. “These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee’s investigation.”
Comer has repeatedly said that his investigation reaches President Joe Biden himself, though thus far it has largely focused on the web of business dealings Hunter Biden and other family members brokered.
The conservative criticism also comes with some difficulties.
As for the gun charge, conservatives have historically supported fulsome Second Amendment rights. According to The New York Times, Biden’s own lawyers pointed to a recent landmark Supreme Court decision that found a broad right to gun ownership outside of one’s home. There have also been lower court challenges to the very form that Biden checked to claim that he was not using drugs when he was that later triggered the charge.
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