This was a great media day for me. I’ve done so many interviews and media appearances about Trump’s indictments, I’m exhausted by it. Today I did an appearance that was NOT about Trump’s indictments. Please clap.
I appeared on Fox News Live with Griff Jenkins, Hunter Biden scandal is really about Joe, to talk about Hunter Biden’s plea deal that (so far) fell apart.
Griff Jenkins (00:05): Devon Archer testifying to the House Oversight Committee this week with the transcript from the closed door interview revealing more about Hunter Biden’s business dealings and the extent to which President Biden was involved. For more on the legal fallout and what could be next for Hunter Biden, William Jacobson joins us now. He’s a professor at Cornell Law School and the founder of EqualProtect.org. William, thank you for taking time today. Your reaction once you saw this testimony from Devin Archer, how significant are Hunter’s legal woes?
WAJ (00:38): Well, they’re very significant. He is being cut a sweetheart deal by the Department of Justice. That fell apart in court because it was structured in a way that made the judge feel very uncomfortable. She didn’t reject it, but she wouldn’t accept it.
The way it was structured with a diversion deal and a factual recitation that looked like it was written by Hunter’s lawyers that might tie her hands, could give him universal immunity to future charges. So it looked really bad.
And then it all made sense when Devon Archer testified and the transcript was released, which is that Hunter Biden’s scandal is not really about Hunter Biden. The Hunter Biden scandal is really about Joe Biden and the dealings that he had to assist his son while Joe was vice president. So if you view in the context of what Archer said, the proceedings in court, Hunter Biden almost was let off the hook for everything he’s done in his life that was questionable, whether illegal or not, through a deal the judge would not accept.
Jenkins (01:41): And so if you view the details coming out of Archer’s testimony, as you said, as dealing as much with Joe Biden as it does Hunter Biden, do you believe then a special counsel would be warranted?
WAJ (01:55): I think there’s a question right now when it comes to Hunter Biden, whether the Department of Justice can act in a neutral manner or whether they are feeling pressure to protect Joe Biden. Certainly the plea deal that they tried to strike with Hunter Biden leads us to have a lack of confidence in the independence of the Department of Justice for the son of the President. So I think it’s something that’s got to be seriously considered and it probably should be considered.
Jenkins (02:23): Let’s drill into that William, because I was actually the reporter in Wilmington when that plea deal fell apart. And I was stunned, and I’m not a lawyer as you are, but watching in real time, with Judge Maryellen Noreika, there challenging the prosecutor saying, so could Hunter Biden be charged with things like a FARA charge, a Foreign Agent Registry Act, charge, for the money he got as stated in the deal, upwards of a million dollars from a Chinese communist company, Ukrainian money and the like. And the prosecutor said, yes. The defense counsel Chris Clark said, whoa, we’re done here. No deal. Then it fell apart.
So my question to you is, as we wait for both sides to get back to this judge on the plea deal, because she gave him 30 days, is there any deal that could be structured now in a plea deal with Hunter that wouldn’t give the American people the impression that there’s a two tiered justice system and Hunter gets the sweetheart deal?
WAJ (03:27): I’m not sure there really is after what’s transpired, because even the deal he’s getting on the narrow charges in court is really a sweetheart deal.
He didn’t pay taxes on millions of dollars that he received from overseas. This is not somebody who didn’t pay on $15,000 of a small business he had or something like that. This was millions of dollars and he was allowed to plea to two misdemeanor charges, tax charges that will result in zero time in jail. And at least according to the IRS whistleblowers, there was a lot of pressure on the prosecutors to lower the standards, to lower the charges. And on the filling out the handgun background check form and lying on it, you know, this is an administration that is all for gun control, wants more and more background checks, yet the son of the president of this administration lied on his forms and is getting no punishment for it. He’s being put into diversion, which means is if he stays out of trouble for two more years it completely disappears.
So I’m not sure there’s any deal at this point that can satisfy or give the public confidence that this is being treated fairly.
Jenkins (04:36): We shall see. We’ve gotta leave it there. William Jacobson, thank you for taking time on his Saturday.
WAJ (04:41): Great, thank you.
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