Republicans and Democrats offered differing takes after special counsel David Weiss announced a new criminal indictment on Thursday against President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
On Thursday, Mr. Weiss unveiled a three-count indictment against the Democrat president’s son, alleging he made a false written statement when he completed a federal firearms purchase form claiming he was not a user of illegal drugs at the time he purchased a Colt Cobra 38PL handgun in 2018.
This new federal indictment comes after Mr. Weiss announced a plea agreement earlier this summer, in which Mr. Biden would have pleaded guilty to two tax offenses and entered a pretrial diversion program for the gun-related offense. Mr. Biden backed out of the plea deal in July as U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika scrutinized the arrangement. Judge Noreika subsequently granted a request by Mr. Weiss to withdraw the charges against the president’s son.
Some Democrat lawmakers pointed to a new criminal indictment against Mr. Biden on Thursday as a sign that Mr. Weiss is not letting up on Mr. Biden and that the Department of Justice would continue to prosecute crimes regardless of politics.
“The Justice Department will do its will,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told NTD News, when asked about the new indictment. “That’s as it should be.”
Many Democrats have stood by the Department of Justice in recent months as it has pursued other charges with political implications. As Republican former President Donald Trump has faced both state and federal criminal prosecutions, many Democratic politicians have said the indictments show that no individual is above the law and that the judicial process should be allowed to play out.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told NTD News she hadn’t fully reviewed the new indictment against President Biden on Thursday, but said if the new indictment is consistent with the previous one then “I think we have a justice system that is working, and accountability goes all ways.”
“I think folks may want to politicize it, but if anything, an indictment is a demonstration that our judicial process is proceeding under its current structures,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez added.
Republicans Not Convinced
While Mr. Schiff and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez largely stood by the new charges against the Democratic president’s son, Republicans suggested the charges could have been brought sooner and more charges should follow.
Many Republican lawmakers characterized the original plea agreement for Mr. Biden as a “sweetheart” deal.
During the July hearing to consider the plea deal, Judge Noreika also expressed concerns that the plea deal was worded so broadly that it could prevent Mr. Biden from being prosecuted for more serious federal offenses, such as potentially violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. At the hearing, Judge Noreika even accused the lawyers of trying to get her to “rubber stamp” the oddly-worded deal.
Some whistleblowers connected to the investigation of Mr. Biden even came forward to House lawmakers with allegations that Mr. Weiss’s team had been hindered and that the investigative efforts were slow-walked and that Mr. Weiss wasn’t able to pursue more serious tax charges.
“You’ve heard the IRS whistleblowers testify on the Oversight Committee as to all the tax evasion crimes. And according to the whistleblowers, Weiss, when he was a U.S. attorney, let the statute of limitations expire on some of the tax crimes,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) told NTD News on Thursday.
Mr. Comer suggested the more serious criminal allegations against Mr. Biden could also implicate his father, the president. Mr. Comer said the charges Mr. Weiss is pursuing over the alleged 2018 gun offense is “the one crime that he committed that you cannot tie Joe Biden to.”
He added that he believes there’s reason to charge the president’s son with money laundering, tax evasion, and FARA violations and that those offenses do have a nexus to the president.
“So I’m still holding out hope that Weiss does the right thing,” he added.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also argued that the president’s son should face additional charges for FARA violations, money laundering, and tax evasion. She has also called for pressing charges for alleged human trafficking violations.
“I think there should be a lot more [charges] coming,” she said.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told NTD News he welcomed the new charges against Mr. Biden, but said he wished the allegations had been uncovered four years ago. Mr. Weiss’s office opened its investigation of Mr. Biden in 2018, according to The Washington Post.
Republicans have been separately investigating President Biden on allegations he peddled influence to advance his family’s business interests throughout his political career. Those investigative efforts expanded this week when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) launched an official impeachment inquiry. Mr. Comer, who will play a role in the impeachment inquiry as the Oversight Committee Chairman, said the new charges against the president’s son won’t impact the efforts of congressional investigators.