Republicans strongly criticized President Joe Biden and the Justice Department’s recent actions concerning Hunter Biden’s legal case. The DOJ’s attempt to transfer Hunter Biden’s case from a Delaware federal court to another jurisdiction after a contentious plea deal was met with backlash from Republican figures.
Earlier on the same day, the DOJ announced its plan to dismiss two tax charges against Hunter Biden without prejudice. The charges would then be refiled in either the Central District of California or Washington, D.C., instead of Delaware.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) insinuated that the DOJ’s move aims to have the charges against Joe Biden’s son reconsidered by a more favorable judge, leading to a more favorable legal outcome.
This development followed Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika’s rejection of a plea deal in a Delaware court in July, which had been criticized as a “joke” and a “sweetheart” arrangement.
Cotton tweeted, “Biden’s DOJ wants to dismiss the charges against Hunter, supposedly to refile them elsewhere, no doubt before some liberal judge who will rubber-stamp a sweetheart deal. Remember, when Biden’s DOJ and Hunter’s lawyers meet, they’re not negotiating. They’re conspiring.”
Hunter Biden is facing allegations of significantly underreporting his income during the 2010s, evading payment of around $1.2 million in income taxes. IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler testified to the House Ways & Means and Oversight committees about potential obstruction in the DOJ’s Hunter Biden investigation.
E. Martin Estrada, the Biden-appointed U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, purportedly declined to pursue charges against Hunter Biden in 2022. Estrada’s political contributions to Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, along with his association with a left-leaning legal organization, have raised concerns about his objectivity.
Meanwhile, the choice of U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware, who had been actively involved in the Hunter Biden probes, as a special counsel to investigate further drew criticism from legal experts. This appointment, according to the Justice Department’s own regulations, appears to violate the prerequisites for such appointments.
Andrew McCarthy, a former U.S. attorney and legal analyst for Fox News, strongly criticized the decision on air. He highlighted the significance of selecting an external individual not just to the DOJ but to the entire governmental framework for a special counsel role, which Weiss’s appointment appears to lack.
McCarthy denounced the move as a “sham” and emphasized that Weiss, despite the new title, remains an integral part of the Biden administration, which maintains control over an investigation they are not actively pursuing. The strategic delay in indictments and allowing statutes of limitations to expire has drawn further scrutiny.
🚨Biden's DOJ wants to dismiss the charges against Hunter, *supposedly* to refile them elsewhere, no doubt before some liberal judge who will rubber-stamp a sweetheart deal.
Remember, when Biden's DOJ and Hunter's lawyers meet, they're not negotiating. They're conspiring. pic.twitter.com/TjGEG8QOrJ
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) August 11, 2023