House Republicans are lambasting the plea deal between the Justice Department and Hunter Biden as proof of a federal law enforcement double standard — and warning it won’t derail their months-long investigation into the president and his family.
As part of an agreement filed in federal court in Delaware on Tuesday, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges. He’s also being charged with possessing a firearm while being a user of illegal drugs, a felony, but will have the charge dismissed if he completes a two-year probationary period.
The charges, which are the culmination of a years-long federal investigation into the president’s son, immediately sparked accusations of a “double standard” by House Republicans, who are conducting a far-reaching investigation into the business deals of Hunter Biden and other family members as they hunt for an elusive link to Joe Biden. No evidence has emerged that the then-vice president’s actions were influenced by his family’s business agreements.
Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) on Tuesday quickly vowed to push forward with his months-long investigation, accusing the Justice Department of cutting a “sweetheart deal” that would have “no impact” on his investigation.
“Let’s be clear: the Department of Justice’s charges against President Biden’s son Hunter reveal a two-tiered system of justice. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery,” Comer said in a statement.
“We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes are revealed,” he added.
Comer’s team has already collected suspicious activity reports from the Treasury Department — which do not automatically indicate wrongdoing — tied to Hunter Biden and his business associates, as well as quietly subpoenaed a swath of bank documents. Committee staff is working to set up a closed-door deposition with Devon Archer, a former Hunter Biden business associate that Republicans hope will shed light on his business deals.
In addition to Comer’s probe, Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has been investigating GOP claims of political bias against conservatives within the federal government, with a particular focus on the FBI and Justice Department. Spokespeople for the Ohio Republican didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he would expand his investigation to dive into the Justice Department’s decisions in the Hunter Biden case.
But Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the No. 4 House Republican and a member of the sub-panel investigating the GOP claims of a politicized government, called the plea deal the “epitome of the politicization and weaponization of Joe Biden’s Department of Justice.”
“House Republicans will not rest until the full illegal corruption of the Biden Crime Family is exposed. Joe Biden must and will be held accountable,” Stefanik said in a statement.
A number of other Republicans were quick to embrace a familiar rallying cry on Tuesday: That Hunter Biden is benefiting from a two-tier system of justice within the country. The conference offered the same criticism after former President Donald Trump’s recent indictment in a federal classified documents investigation — and one that the former president echoed Tuesday in reaction to the plea deal.
“Hunter Biden pleading guilty to a gun charge and misdemeanor tax charges with no jail time is a stunt to make him look like he is just cooperating with the DOJ,” tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a member of the Oversight Committee, calling the Justice Department “pathetic and weaponized.”
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a former chair of the Oversight Committee, called the plea deal “only the first crack in the Biden corruption cover-up”
“This isn’t case closed. Anyone can see Biden’s DOJ went easy on Hunter Biden,” he added.
But the plea agreement is intended to conclude Hunter’s Biden potential legal liability in all matters investigated by federal authorities, including those related to GOP allegations about his business deals, a person familiar with the negotiations told.
Those matters investigated by federal authorities would include an FBI document — which alleged Hunter Biden and the president had taken a bribe from a foreign national — that is now at the center of Comer’s investigation. Former Attorney General Bill Barr has said that record was given to federal authorities, but none of Tuesday’s charges are related to that document or Hunter Biden’s business deals.
That document details a conversation a confidential source for the bureau had about allegations that an executive at Ukrainian gas company Burisma offered a bribe to then-Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter. Republicans have treated the document like a verified bombshell and repeatedly touted that it’s being passed on to federal investigators in Delaware as a sign of its validity. The FBI has stressed that including information in a so-called FD-1023 does not mean that it is verified.
Democrats, meanwhile, have dismissed sharing the document with federal investigators in Delaware as standard operating procedure within the Justice Department. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has requested that the FBI give the full committee details of a briefing he and Comer previously received about the origins of the document. Spokespeople for Raskin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday about the plea deal.
The probe was overseen by U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump and was permitted to stay in his post after Joe Biden took office in order to complete the investigation of the president’s son, despite calls from some Republicans to appoint a special counsel. The White House and the Justice Department have said they did not interfere with Weiss’ investigation.