Hunter Biden Indicted on Federal Tax Charges

[TopHatter]

Attorney General Merrick Garland appoints a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday he has appointed a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, deepening the investigation of the president's son ahead of the 2024 election.

Garland said he was naming David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who has been probing the financial and business dealings of the president's son, as the special counsel.

Just as his appointment as special counsel was announced, Weiss notified a federal judge in Delaware that plea deal talks in the Hunter Biden case were at an “impasse.”

Garland noted the “extraordinary circumstances” of the matter as he made the announcement at the Justice Department. He said that Weiss asked to be appointed to the position and told him that “in his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a special counsel."

“Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel,” Garland said.

The move is a momentous development from the typically cautious Garland and comes amid a pair of sweeping Justice Department probes into Donald Trump, the former president, and President Joe Biden's chief rival in next year's election.

It also comes as House Republicans are mounting their own investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings.

Last month, Hunter Biden’s plea deal over tax evasion collapsed after U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, raised multiple concerns about the specifics.

Republicans had derided that agreement as a “sweetheart” deal as they pushed their own probe.

The Republicans claimed Weiss was being blocked from becoming a special counsel a claim he and the Justice Department denied.

By being named special counsel Weiss will have broader authority to conduct a more sweeping investigation across various areas.
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The swooping sound you heard was me fist pumping as, yet again, the rule of law returns to the DoJ.

[TopHatter]

Hunter Biden could face trial, newly named US special counsel says

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden may be headed for a criminal trial, U.S. Special Counsel David Weiss said shortly after promotion into that role on Friday, in a sign that courtroom drama could play an outsized role in the 2024 presidential election.

A potential trial raises the possibility of an unprecedented spectacle in U.S. history: The son of a sitting president facing criminal charges while his father campaigns for re-election, likely against Republican Donald Trump, who faces at least three upcoming criminal trials of his own.

Republicans in the House of Representatives are also threatening an impeachment inquiry into unproven claims that President Biden benefited from his 54-year-old son's business ventures.

Weiss, who has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2019, filed misdemeanor criminal tax and gun charges in June, but a federal judge refused to accept a proposed plea deal.

Weiss said in a court filing on Friday that talks between the two sides have since broken down. "The Government now believes that the case will not resolve short of a trial," he wrote.

The filing came moments after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated Weiss to special counsel status, giving him additional authority and independence to pursue the investigation.

Hunter Biden in July pleaded not guilty to charges of failing to pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018 despite owing more than $100,000. He did not enter a plea in a separate case where he is charged with unlawfully owning a firearm while using illegal drugs, which is a felony.

TRUMP APPOINTEE
Weiss was originally appointed to his position as U.S. Attorney for Delaware by Trump and was allowed to stay on during the Biden administration.

As a special counsel, Weiss will be free from day-to-day supervision from the Justice Department and file charges anywhere in the United States. Garland can overrule his proposed actions but must notify Congress if he does so.

Weiss said he might bring different charges against Hunter Biden in Washington or California, where the alleged criminal conduct took place.

A lawyer for Hunter Biden said he expected Weiss not to bend to political pressures.

"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,” lawyer Chris Clark said in a statement.

Weiss will produce a report when his work is done, Garland said, and the Justice Department will make as much of it public as is possible.

"The appointment of Mr. Weiss reinforces for the American people the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters," Garland told a press conference.

Republicans have accused the elder Biden of profiting from his son's business ventures in Ukraine and China, though they have yet to produce any evidence of wrongdoing. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in July that the chamber might launch an impeachment inquiry in the autumn.

The White House declined to comment. Biden officials have previously dismissed Republican allegations as "insane conspiracy theories" and has said that Biden did not participate in his son's business affairs.

Hunter Biden has worked as a lobbyist, lawyer, consultant and investment banker and has said he has struggled with alcoholism and crack cocaine use.

Republicans said Weiss lacked credibility to continue the investigation. "If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn’t get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel?" McCarthy said.

Weiss is the third special counsel appointed by Garland to investigate politically sensitive matters.

One of those, Jack Smith, has filed criminal charges against Trump in two separate cases, while another, Robert Hur, is probing whether Biden mishandled classified documents after he left office as vice president.

In previous administrations, special counsels have investigated the outing of a CIA agent and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Hunter Biden has been a focus of several Republican congressional committees.

One former associate told the House Oversight Committee that Hunter gave an impression that he emphasized his family ties while he was doing business in Ukraine nearly a decade ago, while his father was vice president. That witness, Devon Archer, said Hunter spoke with his father daily but said the conversations did not involve business dealings.

Trump also has frequently mentioned the younger Biden in an attempt to tar his father as the two gear up for a possible rematch in the 2024 presidential election. His spokesperson Stephen Cheung said Weiss should "quickly conclude" that Biden and his son "should face the required consequences."

A June Reuters/Ipsos poll found half of Americans, including 75% of Republicans and 33% of Democrats, believed the younger Biden received preferential treatment from Weiss. But most said that would not affect their vote next year.
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“The undersigned request that you provide U.S. Attorney Weiss the full protections and authorities of a special counsel.”

— Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on September 16, 2022.

“There may be others who would be a worse pick than U.S. Attorney Weiss to be special counsel, but based on the prosecution of Hunter Biden to date, he has got to be close to the worst pick. This is unbelievable.”

— Johnson, in a tweet today.

[TopHatter]

Special counsel says Hunter Biden’s gun deal is ‘withdrawn’ and invalid



Special counsel David Weiss said the deal his team previously reached with Hunter Biden to resolve a felony gun possession charge was never approved by a probation officer and is not binding.

The Justice Department prosecutors said in a court filing on Tuesday that for the “diversion agreement” to be legally binding, it would have had to be signed by a probation officer after last month’s court hearing in Delaware.

They said the official who needed to sign it was Margaret Bray, the chief United States probation officer for the District of Delaware.

“In sum, because Ms. Bray, acting in her capacity as the Chief United States Probation Officer, did not approve the now-withdrawn diversion agreement, it never went into effect and, therefore, none of its terms are binding on either party,” prosecutors wrote.

Biden’s lawyers on Sunday said they believed an agreement to resolve a felony gun possession charge was “valid and binding.”

The filing states that negotiations to amend the plea deal continued after the court hearing on July 26 when a federal judge declined to accept a plea agreement on two tax charges.

Biden’s team proposed changes, which prosecutors “did not believe they were in the best interests of the United States” and counter proposed. Biden’s team rejected those changes leading to prosecutors informing the judge they had reached an impasse.
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[TopHatter]

Hunter Biden: What we know of his overseas business dealings
The president’s son and business partners made over $20 million from foreign business deals since Joe Biden was first elected vice president in 2008, the GOP alleges.


Republicans sought to tar Joe Biden six weeks before the 2020 election by releasing new details about his son’s misbehavior, in a report showing that Hunter Biden “cashed in” on his father’s name and position as vice president under President Barack Obama.

That didn’t stop Joe Biden from being elected president. But since 2020, House Republicans have continued to dig into Hunter’s sordid past, alongside federal investigators from the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service. And the president’s prodigal son is an even bigger headache for Democrats now, heading into the next presidential election.

Republicans have unearthed some new details and connected some more dots. They’ve provided evidence that Joe Biden, when he was vice president, had dinner with a few key business partners of Hunter’s, and they’ve subpoenaed bank records showing millions of dollars in payments from those partners to Hunter.

House Republicans last week put out the latest batch of bank documents alleging that Hunter Biden and others he worked with made over $20 million from foreign business deals after his father was first elected vice president in 2008.

“During Joe Biden’s vice presidency, Hunter Biden sold him as ‘the brand’ to reap millions from oligarchs in Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said last week. “It appears no real services were provided other than access to the Biden network, including Joe Biden himself. And Hunter Biden seems to have delivered.”


Hunter Biden leaves federal court in Wilmington, Del., on July 26, after a plea hearing on two misdemeanor charges of willfully failing to pay income taxes.

No evidence so far that President Biden profited
Republicans have so far failed to deliver on their biggest claims. They have not shown that U.S. government decisions were altered to benefit the Biden family, or that President Biden may have received bribes, or that there are direct links between the older Biden and Hunter Biden’s business deals, discussions or payments.

Meanwhile, the Hunter Biden saga is unfolding alongside a series of criminal trials in which former President Donald Trump is accused of, among other things, trying to steal the most recent presidential election from millions of Americans who voted for Biden in 2020.

Yet Democrats are now forced to admit that Hunter Biden “was addicted to drugs and did a lot of really unlawful and wrong things,” as Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

“And we have said, let the justice system run its course. They’re not saying that about Donald Trump,” Raskin said.

The appointment of a special counsel for the Hunter Biden investigation last week by Attorney General Merrick Garland, after a plea deal fell apart, means that Hunter’s shady dealings will remain in the public eye for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the White House continues to insist that President Biden did nothing improper.


Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and reporters after a closed-door House Intelligence Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on June 20, on the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation.

GOP says Hunter and his business associates made over $20 million
Comer has focused his committee’s work on peering into Hunter Biden’s business deals.

The committee’s latest release last week claimed that more than $20 million went to Hunter Biden and his business partners. Previous disclosures from Comer’s committee have shown some of that money going to James Biden, the president’s younger brother, and Hallie Biden, the widow of the president’s late son, Beau.

Republicans are still trying to connect President Biden to these business deals, but have yet to provide concrete evidence. They have pointed to two small dinners in D.C., in 2014 and 2015, that Joe Biden attended with Hunter and a few of his business partners.

For example, the 2014 dinner at Café Milano was attended by a Russian billionaire, Yelena Baturina, who Republicans claim had paid Hunter Biden and his business partner Devon Archer $3.5 million through a shell company earlier that year. These payments from Baturina were first reported in the Republican Senate report that was released in the fall of 2020.

Republicans have speculated that when the Biden administration placed many Russian oligarchs under financial sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Baturina avoided financial penalties because of her past financial relationship with Hunter Biden and that dinner in 2014.

But Archer, who is trying to avoid jail time for defrauding a Native American tribe out of $60 million, told the committee that he never heard Joe Biden discuss business deals in phone calls with Hunter.

So Republicans are still leaning on circumstantial evidence and insinuation, even as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., dangles the prospect of impeachment proceedings. Without a smoking gun, it is likely to be difficult for McCarthy to round up enough Republican votes to support opening an impeachment inquiry.


Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, after giving a deposition to the House Oversight Committee on July 31.

Did Joe Biden get any of that money?
Republicans have little to go on here.

The New York Post reported last year on text messages from a laptop that Hunter Biden left in a Delaware computer repair shop, in which Hunter allegedly complained in 2019 to his daughter Naomi about having to “pay for everything for this entire family for 30 years.”

“But don’t worry, unlike pop, I won’t make you give me half your salary,” Hunter Biden reportedly texted his daughter.

The laptop and its contents were identified as potential Russian misinformation in 2020, but the device and some of its data have since been verified as legitimate by outlets such as the Washington Post. Although the laptop data shows no signs of having been tampered with, not all of it has been verified, and some of the material has inspired false stories in right-wing media outlets.

The only specific details alleging actual expenses paid by Hunter Biden on behalf of his father add up to just under $6,000 for a series of repairs to Joe Biden’s lakefront home in Delaware in 2010.

Comer’s Oversight Committee “has not yet subpoenaed bank records of members of the Biden family,” it said in its most recent report. But Comer said last week that he is planning to subpoena members of the Biden family for testimony soon.


President Biden and first lady Jill Biden with Hunter Biden and his sister, Ashley, on May 15 at the University of Pennsylvania graduation ceremony, where Hunter's daughter Maisy received her degree.

[TopHatter]

Delaware judge orders status report on felony gun charge against Hunter Biden


President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden leaves after a court appearance, Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Wilmington, Del. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday, Aug. 11, he has appointed a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, deepening the investigation of the president's son ahead of the 2024 election.

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A federal judge in Delaware ordered prosecutors and defense attorneys on Thursday to provide a status report regarding a felony gun charge against Hunter Biden.

Judge Maryellen Noreika directed lawyers to provide the report by next Wednesday, including any steps they believe the court needs to take.

Attorneys for Biden have argued that a “diversion agreement” sparing him from prosecution on the gun charge is still in place, even though it was inextricably linked to a plea deal on misdemeanor tax offenses that imploded during a court appearance in July.

Noreika dismissed the tax case, and prosecutors have indicated they plan to pursue tax charges against President Joe Biden's son in another district, perhaps California or Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, prosecutors maintain that the agreement on the gun charge, which contains unprecedented immunity provisions against federal prosecutions for other potential crimes, never took effect and is no longer valid.

The two-part deal on tax and gun charges was supposed to have largely wrapped up a years-long investigation overseen by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss. The deal fell apart after Noreika raised questions about its terms during a hearing in July. Among other issues, prosecutors were unable to resolve the judge's concerns about offering Biden immunity for certain crimes as part of the diversion agreement, instead of in the plea deal.

Typically, a non-prosecution agreement is not presented to a judge and requires no court input. A plea deal, on the other hand, must be presented to a judge, but prosecutors tried to structure Biden’s tax plea deal in a way that left Noreika with no discretion to accept or reject it. The judge expressed concern that attorneys were asking her to simply “rubber stamp” the deal, which she refused to do.

Pressed by Noreika, prosecutor Leo Wise said he could find no precedent for agreeing not to prosecute Biden for crimes that have nothing to do with the gun case or the charges being diverted. Wise also acknowledged that he had never seen a diversion agreement in which the agreement not to prosecute is so broad that it encompasses crimes in a different case. Nor could he offer any precedent for requiring prosecutors to first obtain court approval before prosecuting Biden for certain crimes in the future.

“These agreements are not straightforward and they contain some atypical provisions,” Noreika noted.

Prior to the hearing, Republicans denounced Biden’s plea agreement as a “sweetheart deal.” The deal called for Biden to be sentenced to probation in exchange for pleading guilty to failing to pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018. According to prosecutors, Biden's income during those two years included roughly $4 million in business and consulting fees from a company he formed with the CEO of a Chinese business conglomerate, and from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

The diversion agreement, meanwhile, was aimed at sparing Biden from prosecution on the felony crime of being a drug user in possession of a gun in 2018 if he kept out of trouble for two years. Hunter Biden’s history of drug use and financial dealings have trailed the political career of his father.

Following the collapse of the plea deal, Attorney General Merrick Garland named Weiss as special counsel, a status that confers broad powers to investigate and report out his findings.
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[TopHatter]

Prosecutors seeking new indictment for Hunter Biden before end of September


President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden leaves after a court appearance, Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Wilmington, Del. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday, Aug. 11, he has appointed a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, deepening the investigation of the president's son ahead of the 2024 election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors plan to seek a grand jury indictment of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter before the end of the month, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

The filing came in a gun possession case in which Hunter Biden was accused of having a firearm while being a drug user, though prosecutors did not name exactly which charges they will seek. He has also been under investigation by federal prosecutors for his business dealings.

Prosecutors under U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, newly named a special counsel in the case, said they expect an indictment before Sept. 29.

Hunter Biden's lawyers, though, argued that prosecutors are barred from filing additional charges under an agreement the two sides previously reached in the gun case. It contains an immunity clause against federal prosecutions for some other potential crimes. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said Hunter Biden has kept to the terms of the deal, including regular visits by the probation office.

“We expect a fair resolution of the sprawling, 5-year investigation into Mr. Biden that was based on the evidence and the law, not outside political pressure, and we’ll do what is necessary on behalf of Mr. Biden to achieve that,” he said in a statement.

Prosecutors have said that the gun agreement is dead along with the rest of the plea agreement that called for Hunter Biden to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses. It fell apart after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika raised questions about it during a court appearance in July.

The Justice Department did not have immediate comment.

News of a possible new indictment comes as House Republicans are preparing for a likely impeachment inquiry of President Biden over unsubstantiated claims that he played a role in his son’s foreign business affairs during his time as vice president.

“If you look at all the information we have been able to gather so far, it is a natural step forward that you would have to go to an impeachment inquiry,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News recently.

The younger Biden has been the target of congressional investigations since Republicans gained control of the House in January, with lawmakers obtaining thousands of pages of financial records from various members of the Biden family through subpoenas to the Treasury Department and various financial institutions. Three powerful House committees are now pursuing several lines of inquiry related to the president and his son.

And while Republicans have sought to connect Hunter Biden’s financial affairs directly to his father, they have failed to produce evidence that the president directly participated in his son’s work, though he sometimes had dinner with Hunter Biden’s clients or said hello to them on calls.

In recent months, Republicans have also shifted their focus to delving into the Justice Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden after whistleblower testimony claimed he has received special treatment throughout the yearslong case.

Hunter Biden was charged in June with two misdemeanor crimes of failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes from over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018. He had been expected to plead guilty in July, after he made an agreement with prosecutors, who were planning to recommend two years of probation. The case fell apart during the hearing after Noreika, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, raised multiple concerns about the specifics of the deal and her role in the proceedings.

If prosecutors file a new gun possession charge, it could run into court challenges. A federal appeals court in Louisiana ruled against the ban on gun possession by drug users last month, citing a 2022 gun ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.

News of another indictment comes after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland named Weiss a special counsel, giving him broad authority to investigate and report out his findings and intensifying the investigation into the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election.

The White House Counsel’s office referred questions to Hunter Biden’s personal attorneys.
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Yet again I'm astounded at how fast the wheels of justice turn when the president isn't obstructing them at every single turn.

[tbm3fan]

What astounds me is how big a deal they are making out of the gun possession by a drug user. In this case, Hunter Biden, who was probably never a threat with a gun. However, OTOH, there are probably 1000's of others who could be prosecuted for the same charge and who would be far more dangerous with the gun. All this from the party that usually fights tooth and nail to make sure anyone can own a gun.

[TopHatter]

What astounds me is how big a deal they are making out of the gun possession by a drug user. In this case, Hunter Biden, who was probably never a threat with a gun. However, OTOH, there are probably 1000's of others who could be prosecuted for the same charge and who would be far more dangerous with the gun. All this from the party that usually fights tooth and nail to make sure anyone can own a gun.

Funny you should mention that....

Trump-Stacked Supreme Court May Have Already Exonerated Hunter Biden
Federal prosecutors plan to indict Hunter Biden on a gun charge. But what about the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on guns?

The special counsel investigating Hunter Biden plans to indict the first son on a gun charge. The only problem is that the conservative Supreme Court may have already overturned the law Biden allegedly violated.

Biden had initially agreed to a deal in which he would have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of tax evasion and participated in a pretrial program for a gun offense, allowing him to avoid jail time. When that deal fell apart in July, the Justice Department appointed David Weiss as a special counsel to investigate Biden further.

Weiss announced his plan Wednesday to indict Biden on just the gun charge by the end of the month. The charge is over Biden answering “no” on a federal form he filled out while buying a handgun when asked if he was an “unlawful user” of drugs. Biden has struggled with crack cocaine addiction and was having trouble staying sober at the time.

Except Weiss may not actually be able to bring the charge. Last year, the Supreme Court significantly loosened gun control laws when the conservative majority ruled that Americans have a general right to arm themselves in public. Biden’s lawyers have already argued that the ruling makes trying to prosecute the first son on gun charges pointless.

The Supreme Court ruling has already been cited in another, much lower-profile case. The Fifth Circuit appeals court ruled in August that drug users shouldn’t be automatically banned from owning guns. The court overturned the conviction of a Mississippi man who had two guns in his car during a 2022 traffic stop and admitted to regular marijuana use, although he was not driving under the influence at the time.

“Our history and tradition may support some limits on an intoxicated person’s right to carry a weapon, but it does not justify disarming a sober citizen based exclusively on his past drug usage,” the three-judge panel said in the ruling.

Republicans have complained that Biden got a “sweetheart” plea deal and that the Justice Department has treated him with kid gloves. But it might be a little harder to take issue with Biden being exonerated by a ruling from the Supreme Court, which was stacked with conservatives by GOP leader Donald Trump.
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Let's face it, this is all they have. I haven't heard diddly squat about Hunter's infamous laptop lately and their accusations of Joe Biden being up to his neck in his son's business dealings have been accompanied by no evidence of any substance. So, they work with what they have.

[TopHatter]

It’s time for clarity on Hunter Biden (and his dad)

Is there a smoking gun? Or just an inert one?

The American public may soon find out, now that the Justice Dept. will reportedly indict President Biden’s son Hunter on charges of felony gun possession. Federal prosecutors could also charge Hunter Biden with tax evasion, for failing to pay about $200,000 in federal tax on income of more than $3 million in 2017 and 2018.

These would be nothingburger cases generating zero public interest if Hunter Biden weren’t the son of the president. As it is, however, Hunter Biden’s messy life has become a political liability for his father, and there’s a chance it could even sink Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection bid.

So there are merits to a public trial, or trials, that will air out issues that would have broadly escaped public scrutiny under the plea deal Hunter Biden thought he had worked out on the gun and tax charges. That deal fell apart in July, which is why Hunter now seems to be headed to trial — assuming another plea deal doesn't emerge.

A Hunter Biden criminal trial would also even the stakes somewhat in the Trump-Biden Family Corruption Sweepstakes. Former President Donald Trump is now a defendant in four criminal prosecutions, including two brought by Biden’s Justice Dept. The evidence against Trump is compelling, yet Trump claims he’s the victim of political persecution. A criminal prosecution against the president’s son by the same Justice Dept. would establish a kind of symmetry in the handling of presidential scandals.

The scope and gravity of the Trump charges swamp Hunter Biden's alleged crimes. But charges aren’t convictions, and since it will be up to a jury to decide if Trump is guilty in each of his criminal cases, then a jury outcome is appropriate for Hunter Biden, too.

Hunter Biden’s misbehavior falls into two categories: business dealings that were unseemly but not illegal, and other acts that were criminalish enough for Hunter to acknowledge guilt in the plea deal that unraveled. The biggest question for the American public isn’t what Hunter Biden did, but whether his father Joe had any complicity in his son’s efforts to cash in on the family name and use his pull in Washington to enrich himself.

So far, there’s no evidence of any wrongdoing by Joe Biden, and that’s after five years of digging dating back to Trump’s presidency. Trump was obviously desperate to find dirt on Biden that he could use to discredit his 2020 presidential rival, and he knew Hunter was the most likely conduit. Trump didn’t find anything.

Still, Hunter Biden’s shady dealings as a drug-addicted consultant and board member for businesses in China and Ukraine do raise red flags. It’s clear, for instance, that Hunter Biden’s main qualification for lucrative employment by Ukrainian and Chinese business was his last name. The most questionable conduct occurred when Joe Biden was vice president. Hunter Biden and two partners set up an investment firm in Shanghai in 2013, for instance. Then in 2014, Hunter joined the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

Republicans have been trying to prove that Joe Biden, as vice president, somehow intervened in US policy to aid Hunter’s businesses.

So far, there’s zero evidence of that. There is evidence that Joe Biden, who talked with his son on the phone frequently, had a few conversations with Hunter while others were in the room. He also had dinner a couple of times with Hunter and some of his business associates. But that’s as far as it goes, and nobody has been able to link phone conversations and dinners with any action Biden ever took or tried to take to benefit Hunter’s businesses.

One of Hunter’s business partners, Devon Archer, said in August testimony before the House Oversight Committee that in the phone chats he overheard with Joe Biden, “there was no business conversation. … It was, you know, just general niceties and, you know, conversation in general, you know, about the geography, about the weather, whatever it may be.” Archer said that what Hunter Biden really brought to the table wasn’t any kind of ability to influence activities in Washington, but “an illusion of access to his father.”

Joe Biden may be guilty of one thing: bad judgment.

He must have known his son was trading on the family name to earn at least $11 million from 2013 to 2018. As far as we know, Dad never told Junior to knock it off and find honest work. We also know that Beau Biden, Joe’s son and Hunter’s brother, developed brain cancer in 2013 and died from it two years later. Hunter Biden, an alcoholic, relapsed after his brother’s death and entered a deep depression compounded by a crack cocaine addiction. This is around the same time Joe Biden called his son frequently to talk about niceties and such. So compassionate critics might think the Biden family deserves a bit of a break.

Is there more? Is Joe Biden so devious he really provided government favors for his son, enriching his family while burying the evidence? If so, the best chance of finding out is going through a trial and giving prosecutors the authority to dig up everything relevant. Attorney General Merrick Garland has set the stage for that, elevating Biden prosecutor David Weiss to special-counsel status, which will give him more leeway and authority to do a wide-ranging investigation. The Bidens may resent that, but if Joe Biden is truly innocent, then a thorough investigation attesting to that would be beneficial to him.

Trump currently leads in the Corruption Sweepstakes, but Biden isn’t that far behind. In a recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll, 53% of respondents said Trump and his family are corrupt, while 45% said Biden and his family are corrupt. There’s a big difference, however: Impressions of Trump family corruption come largely from Donald Trump himself, who’s running for president again. Impressions of Biden family corruption come largely from Hunter, who’s never been an elected official and probably will never be.

Not all voters blame Joe Biden for the sins of his son, but Republicans may have had some success, so far, in broadly tarring “the Bidens” as shady, without distinguishing who did something and who did nothing. A Hunter Biden trial would clarify that. It may or may not benefit the Bidens, but it would be good for voters who care enough to understand whether Joe Biden is corrupt, or merely related to somebody who is.
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[TopHatter]

Threats mount against prosecutors, FBI agents working on Hunter Biden probe

Prosecutors and FBI agents involved in the Hunter Biden investigation have been the targets of threats and harassment by people who think they haven’t been tough enough on the president’s son, according to government officials and congressional testimony obtained exclusively by NBC News.

It’s part of a dramatic uptick in threats against FBI agents that has coincided with attacks on the FBI and the Justice Department by congressional Republicans and former President Donald Trump, who have accused both agencies of participating in a conspiracy to subvert justice amid two federal indictments of Trump.

The threats have prompted the FBI to create a stand-alone unit to investigate and mitigate them, according to a previously unreleased transcript of congressional testimony.

“We have stood up an entire threat unit to address threats that the FBI employees’ facilities are receiving,” Jennifer L. Moore, then an executive assistant director of human resources for the FBI, told the House Judiciary Committee in June. “It is unprecedented. It’s a number we’ve never had before.”

“It’s going to be about 10 people when it’s finished,” she said. “We are still in the process of staffing it right now. But their sole mission on a daily basis is threats to FBI employees at facilities.”

Moore told lawmakers that threats to FBI agents and facilities had more than doubled — there were more in the six months from October to March than in the previous 12 months. More recent data was not available; officials say the pace of threats increased after the FBI investigations of Trump became public last summer and has not slowed since.

The FBI declined to comment.

Natalie Bara, president of the FBI Agents Association, a nonprofit group that advocates for current and retired agents, said in a statement, “FBI Special Agents and their families should never be threatened with violence, including for doing their jobs. This is not a partisan or political issue. Calls for violence against law enforcement are unacceptable, and should be condemned by all leaders.”

Federal prosecutor Lesley Wolf, who had been part of U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ team investigating Hunter Biden, got such a barrage of credible threats that she sought security help from the U.S. Marshals Service, according to previously unreleased testimony from an FBI official to the House Judiciary Committee last week. Two IRS agents on the case have accused Wolf of making decisions that appeared favorable to Biden. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.

Special counsel Jack Smith and his team have long been protected by an armed security detail, as is Robert Hur, the special counsel appointed to investigate classified documents found at President Joe Biden’s home and office.

On Thursday, the Atlanta office of the FBI said in a statement that it is aware of threats of violence against officials in Fulton County, Georgia, and is working with the county sheriff's office. Trump and 18 other defendants face state charges in Fulton County in connection with alleged election interference.

The field office declined to provide details of any investigations, but said, "[E]ach and every potential threat brought to our attention is taken seriously. Individuals found responsible for making threats in violation of state and/or federal laws will be prosecuted."

An intelligence bulletin last year said the FBI was investigating an unprecedented number of threats against agents and facilities in the wake of the August 2022 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach, Florida. A few days after the search, a man who was present at the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was shot and killed after he tried to breach the FBI’s Cincinnati field office wearing body armor and carrying a rifle.

The FBI told House Judiciary Committee aides that Laura Dehmlow, who headed the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force and has been accused by congressional Republicans of suppressing social media and news coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop, was the target of multiple threats after her name was connected to the Biden story, according to two congressional officials.

A source familiar with the matter said some FBI personnel have been the victims of “swatting,” in which someone calls in a false report that leads armed police to rush to a home.

Last week, an FBI agent involved in the Hunter Biden investigation told the House Judiciary Committee that the threats have extended to agents’ family members.

“Things towards their families, that has absolutely increased,” Thomas Sobocinski, an FBI agent involved in the investigation, said in a transcribed interview that has been widely circulated. “[T]he sense of the employees and especially the sense of their families is, yes, they feel threatened.”

In response, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Sobocinski that the committee’s counsel, Bruce Castor, “faced the same kind of thing” when he defended Trump in impeachment proceedings.

“There’s no place for those kind of threats and that kind of thing,” Jordan said.
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[TopHatter]

Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to three federal gun charges filed after his plea deal collapsed


President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden arrives for a court appearance, in Wilmington, Del, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to three federal firearms charges filed after a plea deal imploded, putting the case on track toward a possible trial as the 2024 election looms.

His lawyer Abbe Lowell said in court he plans to file a motion to dismiss the case, challenging their constitutionality.

President Joe Biden’s son faces charges that he lied about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days.

He’s acknowledged struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine during that period, but his lawyers have said he didn’t break the law. Gun charges like these are rare, and an appeals court has found the ban on drug users having guns violates the Second Amendment under new Supreme Court standards.

Hunter Biden’s attorneys are suggesting that prosecutors bowed to pressure by Republicans who have insisted the Democratic president’s son got a sweetheart deal, and that the charges were the result of political pressure.

He was indicted after the implosion this summer of his plea agreement with federal prosecutors on tax and gun charges. The deal devolved after the judge who was supposed to sign off on the agreement instead raised a series of questions about the deal. Federal prosecutors had been looking into his business dealings for five years, and the agreement would have dispensed with criminal proceedings before his father was actively campaigning for president in 2024.

Now, a special counsel has been appointed to handle the case, and there appears no easy end in sight. No new tax charges have yet been filed, but the special counsel has indicated they could come in Washington or in California, where Hunter Biden lives.

In Congress, House Republicans are seeking to link Hunter Biden’s dealings to his father’s through an impeachment inquiry. Republicans have been investigating Hunter Biden for years, since his father was Barack Obama’s vice president. While questions have arisen about the ethics surrounding the Biden family’s international business, no evidence has emerged so far to prove that Joe Biden, in his current or previous office, abused his role or accepted bribes.

The legal wrangling could spill into 2024, with Republicans eager to divert attention from the multiple criminal indictments faced by GOP primary front-runner Donald Trump, whose trials could be unfolding at the same time.

After remaining silent for years, Hunter Biden has taken a more aggressive legal stance in recent weeks, filing a series of lawsuits over the dissemination of personal information purportedly from his laptop and his tax data by whistleblower IRS agents who testified before Congress as part of the GOP probe.

The president’s son, who has not held public office, is charged with two counts of making false statements and one count of illegal gun possession, punishable by up to 25 years in prison upon conviction. Under the failed deal, he would have pleaded guilty and served probation rather than jail time on misdemeanor tax charges and avoided prosecution on a gun count if he stayed out of trouble for two years.

Defense attorneys have argued that he remains protected by an immunity provision that was part of the scuttled plea agreement, but prosecutors overseen by special counsel David Weiss disagree. Weiss also serves as U.S. attorney for Delaware and was originally appointed by Trump.

Hunter Biden had asked for Tuesday’s hearing to be conducted remotely over video feed, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke sided with prosecutors, saying there would be no “special treatment.”
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[TopHatter]

Hunter Biden indicted on nine tax charges, adding to gun charges in special counsel probe


President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, leaves after a court appearance, July 26, 2023, in Wilmington, Del. House Republicans are warning Hunter Biden that they will move to hold him in contempt of Congress if he doesn’t appear this month for a closed-door deposition, raising the stakes in the growing standoff over testimony from President Joe Biden's son.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden was indicted on nine tax charges in California on Thursday as a special counsel investigation into the business dealings of the president's son intensifies against the backdrop of the looming 2024 election.

The new charges — three felonies and six misdemeanors — come in addition to federal firearms charges in Delaware alleging Hunter Biden broke a law against drug users having guns in 2018.

Hunter Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,” special counsel David Weiss said in a statement. The charges are focused on at least $1.4 million in taxes he owed during between 2016 and 2019, a period where he has acknowledged struggling with addiction.

If convicted, Hunter Biden could face up to 17 years in prison. The special counsel probe remains open, Weiss said.

Hunter Biden had been previously expected to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax charges as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. Defense attorneys have signaled they plan to fight any new charges, though they did not immediately return messages seeking comment Thursday.

The White House also declined to comment on Thursday's indictment, referring questions to the Justice Department or Hunter Biden’s personal representatives.

The agreement, which covered tax years 2017 and 2018, imploded in July after a judge raised questions about it. It had also been pilloried as a “sweetheart deal” by Republicans investigating nearly every aspect of Hunter Biden's business dealings as well as the Justice Department's handling of the case.

Congressional Republicans have also pursued an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, claiming he was engaged in an influence-peddling scheme with his son. The House is expected to vote next week on formally authorizing the inquiry.

While questions have arisen about the ethics surrounding the Biden family’s international business, no evidence has emerged so far to prove that Joe Biden, in his current or previous office, abused his role or accepted bribes.

The criminal investigation led by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss has been open since 2018, and was expected to wind down with the plea deal that Hunter Biden had planned to strike with prosecutors over the summer. He would have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax evasion charges and would have entered a separate agreement on the gun charge. He would have served two years of probation rather than get jail time.

The agreement also contained immunity provisions, and defense attorneys have argued that they remain in force since that part of the agreement was signed by a prosecutor before the deal was scrapped.

Prosecutors disagree, pointing out the documents weren’t signed by a judge and are invalid.

After the deal fell apart, prosecutors filed three federal gun charges alleging that Hunter Biden had lied about his drug use to buy a gun that he kept for 11 days in 2018. Federal law bans gun possession by “habitual drug users,” though the measure is seldom seen as a stand-alone charge and has been called into question by a federal appeals court.

Hunter Biden’s longstanding struggle with substance abuse had worsened during that period after the death of his brother Beau Biden in 2015, prosecutors wrote in a draft plea agreement filed in court in Delaware.

He still made “substantial income” in 2017 and 2018, including $2.6 million in business and consulting fees from a company he formed with the CEOs of a Chinese business conglomerate and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, but did not pay his taxes on a total of about $4 million in personal income during that period, prosecutors said in the scuttled Delaware plea agreement.

He did eventually file his taxes in 2020 and the back taxes were paid by a “third party” the following year, prosecutors said.
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Can you imagine one of Donald Trump's children being indicted on federal charges by the Department of Justice while he was the sitting president?

Yeah, I can't either.

[Albany Rifles]

It's a shame what has happened here but you don't hear masses of Dems screaming about corrupt DOJ. Hunter will face the music as any other citizen will. Now like most white collar folks I don't expect hard time but I expect some real consequences.

Meanwhile I wonder how his suit over illegal sharing of his laptop info invaded his privacy is going?

[Albany Rifles]

As expected, Hunter has told Comer, Jordan, et al to GFY about a closed door hearing. He is just doing what those members did when subpoenaed. And Hunter has seen how closed door hearing results are used selectively to smear people.

Hunter may be a shit bird but he isn't a stupid shit bird!

[TopHatter]

Hunter Biden found guilty of lying about drug use to buy gun

• Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, was convicted by a jury of lying about his drug use to illegally buy a gun, making him the first child of a sitting U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.
• President Joe Biden accepted the outcome of the case and stated he would respect the judicial process as his son considers an appeal, with sentencing guidelines for the gun charges typically ranging from 15 to 21 months.
• The trial, brought by U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss, included prosecution testimony from Hunter Biden's ex-wife, former girlfriend, and sister-in-law, who detailed his addiction struggles leading up to the gun purchase, while the defense argued he was not using drugs at the time and did not intend to deceive on the government form.

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) -President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of lying about his drug use to illegally buy a gun, a verdict Democrats may seize upon to counter Donald Trump’s claim of a justice system weaponized against him.

A 12-member jury in Wilmington, Delaware, federal court found the defendant guilty on all three counts against him, making Hunter Biden the first child of a sitting U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.

Hunter Biden, 54, lightly nodded his head after the verdict was read but otherwise showed little reaction. He then patted his lawyer Abbe Lowell on the back and hugged another member of his legal team.

He then left the courthouse without making a statement.

His father, Joe Biden, issued a statement saying he accepted the outcome of the case and would respect the judicial process as his son considers an appeal.

The judge set no date for sentencing, but added the timeline is usually in 120 days. That would place it no later than a month before the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.

Sentencing guidelines for the gun charges are 15 to 21 months, but legal experts say defendants in similar cases often get shorter sentences and are less likely to be incarcerated if they abide by the terms of their pretrial release.

Some 61% of registered voters responding to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in February said Hunter Biden's legal troubles would have no impact on whether they voted for his father in November. The poll showed voters divided over whether Hunter Biden's legal troubles were related to his father's service as president.

The trial followed the May 30 criminal conviction of Trump, the first former U.S. president to be found guilty of a felony and the Republican challenger to Joe Biden, a Democrat, in a tight race for the White House.

Trump, convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal, accuses Democrats of pursuing that case and three other criminal prosecutions to prevent him from regaining power in his rematch with Joe Biden.

Congressional Democrats have pointed to cases including the Hunter Biden prosecution as evidence that Joe Biden is not using the justice system for political or personal ends, having said last week he would not pardon his son if convicted.

In a statement on Tuesday, Joe Biden said: “As I said last week, I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery.

"As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal. Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that,” the statement said.

The Hunter Biden case was brought by U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss, a Trump appointee.

Weiss has also charged Hunter Biden with three felony and six misdemeanor tax offenses in California, alleging he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019 while spending millions on drugs, escorts, exotic cars and other high-ticket items.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to those charges. A trial is scheduled for Sept. 5 in Los Angeles.

The Delaware trial included prosecution testimony by Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, former girlfriend and sister-in-law, who gave firsthand accounts of his spiraling addiction in the weeks before and after he bought the gun in October 2018.

Prosecutors also showed text messages, photos and bank records that they said showed Biden was deep in the throes of addiction when he bought the gun and knowingly broke the law by answering “no” to being a drug user on a government screening form.

Biden’s lawyers sought to show he was not using drugs when he bought the gun and did not intend to deceive because he didn’t consider himself a drug user when he filled out the form.

The defense called Hunter Biden’s daughter, Naomi Biden, who testified that her father seemed to be doing well when she saw him shortly before and after he bought the gun.
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Definitely NOT voting for this guy in November.