Hunter Biden’s legal drama is back in headlines again: CNN reported Wednesday that David Weiss, the special counsel in the case, “intends to seek an indictment against President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, relating to gun charges by the end of the month.”
CNN cited a filing in the United States District Court in the District of Delaware.
“The Speedy Trial Act requires that the Government obtain the return of an indictment by a grand jury by Friday, September 29, 2023, at the earliest. The Government intends to seek the return of an indictment in this case before that date,” the filing said.
In the summer Weiss, at the time the U.S. attorney for Delaware, had appeared to reach a deal with Hunter Biden’s attorneys, in which he agreed to plead guilty to tax charges, and for the potential gun charge against him to be diverted.
That deal fell apart in court, and subsequent attempts at negotiation by the sides have been unsuccessful, and the president’s son has pled not guilty to the tax charges.
Weiss, meanwhile, was given special counsel status last month.
CNN reported that the president’s son’s team will submit their own filing later on Wednesday.
Also Wednesday, the House Oversight, Ways and Means and Judiciary Committees demanded records from Hunter Biden’s legal team, in relation to the collapsed plea agreement. Politico and the New York Times both published detailed stories about the circumstances of the scuttled plea deal, and the committees are asking for communications between Biden’s legal team and the Justice Department.
“The information contained in these articles reinforces serious concerns regarding whether the Department has handled a case involving President Biden’s son in an impartial manner that is consistent with other prosecutions,” the letters from the heads of those committees stated, per Fox News.
The same day, Fox News also reported, that Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer asked the National Archives for information about then-Vice President Joe Biden’s “collusion” with his son’s businesses.
“Complete versions of the records are relevant to the Committee’s investigation of the Biden family,” the letter from Comer said, per Fox. “ “For example, on December 4, 2015, at 10:45 a.m. — in an email with the subject of ‘Quotes’ — Eric Schwerin (a longtime Biden family business associate) wrote to Kate Bedingfield in the Office of the Vice President providing quotes the White House should use in response to media outreach regarding Hunter Biden’s role in Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.”
Despite all that, Politico wrote this week that Hunter Biden “might not be the slam dunk issue GOP commentators hoped.” The story noted that Hunter did not come up in the first Republican presidential campaign, rendering a planned Biden campaign rapid response press release unused.
“In the 2024 primary, the controversy surrounding Hunter Biden is falling flat. Instead, there is a growing recognition within some corners of the GOP — and among former President Donald Trump’s rivals, significantly — that the issue may not resonate as much as they once hoped, and that fixating on it could only help Trump,” Politico said. After all, the Trump campaign certainly tried to use the Hunter issue against President Biden in the 2020 campaign, and there is little indication that that worked, either.
Republican strategists quoted by Politico stated that the non-Trump Republican candidates are avoiding Hunter Biden talk because it’s Trump’s issue, as he seeks to point out a double standard between his legal treatment and that of the president’s son.
“Why do Trump’s work of defending Trump — bringing up the Biden comparison — when Hunter Biden’s going to get the book thrown at him, anyway?,” political strategist Chuck Coughlin told Politico.
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Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Stephen has authored thousands of articles over the years that focus on politics, technology, and the economy for over a decade. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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