Biden world resigned to a campaign shadowed by Hunter drama
politico.com
By JONATHAN LEMIRE and HOLLY OTTERBEIN
08/11/2023
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It was barely two weeks ago that the younger Biden was mere minutes away from a plea deal that could have put his legal worries to rest. But a federal judge in Delaware balked at the expansiveness of the immunity being granted. Garland said Friday that he approved the request from Weiss — who had been investigating Hunter Biden and approved the plea deal — to assume the title of special counsel to continue the probe. Weiss, a Trump appointee, said Friday that plea agreement talks had broken down and that a trial was likely.
Outwardly, Biden world downplayed the development and promised full cooperation with the newly empowered special counsel’s investigation.
“This doesn’t change our understanding of Mr. Weiss’ authority over the five-year investigation into Mr. Biden,” said Chris Clark, one of the attorneys for Hunter Biden. “For years, both Mr. Weiss and the Department have assured us and the public that Mr. Weiss had more authority than a special counsel and full authority to negotiate a resolution of his investigation — which has been done. Whether in Delaware, Washington, D.C. or anywhere else, we expect a fair resolution not infected by politics and we’ll do what is necessary on behalf of Mr. Biden to achieve that.”
A narrow reading of the appointment could suggest, some experts said, that in the aftermath of the plea deal collapse, Weiss simply needed the broader powers of a special counsel to prosecute crimes committed outside of his Delaware jurisdiction. Some of the matters Hunter Biden is facing occurred in California and the District of Columbia and there was no certainty that Weiss would expand the probe beyond existing charges.
But there was suggestion, at the plea hearing, of other investigations. And history suggests that Friday represented an expansion of the scope of Weiss’ work, not just an effort to access new venues — some special counsels probing previous administrations have at times dramatically broadened the scope of their inquiries.
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The investigation into Hunter was discussed by the Biden family prior to launching the 2024 campaign. First lady Jill Biden made clear last year that it would not play a decisive role in whether or not the president would run for reelection. But the impact that the scrutiny of another campaign might have on Hunter Biden was weighed, according to three people not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.
The president had long expressed private frustration with the length of the federal investigation into his son — now five years and counting — and has worried deeply about the toll it took on Hunter, who has been open about his drug addiction issues, according to two people close to the elder Biden not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. The plea deal would have been a marker, the first couple hoped, of a new era in Hunter Biden’s life. Biden calls to check on his son nearly every day, people close to him said, to voice his love, concern and support for Hunter staying sober.
Biden aides — while believing that most voters don’t care about the allegations into Hunter — have grown accustomed to the growing number of accusations being levied against the so-called “Biden Crime Family.” .....Republicans have seized on the allegations — and even discussed impeachment.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy posted on social media that “this action by Biden’s DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption. If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn’t get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel?”
Bombshell Reports: Weiss Was Preparing to Let Hunter
Walk With No Charges...........Until This Happened
Townhall ^ | 08/21/2023 | Guy Benson
Posted on 8/21/2023, 1:01:28 PM by SeekAndFind
The New York Times and Politico published a pair of lengthy stories detailing the collapse of Hunter Biden’s plea deal over the weekend, and they’re packed with extraordinary details.
It seems likely that members of the president’s son’s legal team acted as sources for both pieces — which offer a series of jaw-dropping claims about what was happening behind the scenes before the wrist-slap agreement disintegrated in open court, as the result of a simple question from the presiding judge.
Early in the Times story, I had to re-read this sentence: “The deal’s collapse — chronicled in over 200 pages of confidential correspondence between Mr. Weiss’s office and Mr. Biden’s legal team, and interviews with those close to Mr. Biden, lawyers involved in the case and Justice Department officials — came after intense negotiations that started with the prospect that Mr. Biden would not be charged at all and now could end in his possible indictment and trial.”
The prospect that Hunter Biden “would not be charged at all”? Excuse me? Indeed, according to the Times, the so-called ‘prosecutor’ in this case — and I use scare quotes because David Weiss does not appear to have demonstrated any appetite for actually prosecuting this case in a meaningful way — was inclined to let the president’s son skate entirely. But then the IRS whistleblowers came forward, and the political calculus changed:
Earlier this year, The Times found, Mr. Weiss appeared willing to forgo any prosecution of Mr. Biden at all, and his office came close to agreeing to end the investigation without requiring a guilty plea on any charges. But the correspondence reveals that his position, relayed through his staff, changed in the spring, around the time a pair of I.R.S. officials on the case accused the Justice Department of hamstringing the investigation.
Mr. Weiss suddenly demanded that Mr. Biden plead guilty to committing tax offenses. Now, the I.R.S. agents and their Republican allies say they believe the evidence they brought forward, at the precise time they did, played a role in influencing the outcome, a claim senior law enforcement officials dispute.
snip-—long read on FR