Just to compound the other serious mistakes he has made in his life, Hunter Biden made the mistake last week of overplaying his hand. Afforded the opportunity to plead guilty to tax crimes committed while addicted to crack and other drugs, the president’s son held out for a commitment by the Justice Department that it would never prosecute him for anything else. This was a commitment the Department could not and would not make – and it was a commitment that any practical person mindful of his past misconduct would have known wouldn’t be made.
The younger Biden’s demand that the Justice Department declare that it was absolving him of any further criminal jeopardy left Department lawyers with no choice but to tell him to pound sand. And it left Attorney General Merrick Garland, whose fealty to the rule of law exceeds that of all of his Congressional critics combined, with no choice but to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate anything and everything Hunter Biden-related. And speaking of fealty to the rule of law, the man Garland appointed was David Weiss, the United States Attorney for Delaware, appointed by none other than Donald Trump and asked by Joe Biden to stay on precisely so that the criminal investigation of his son could be completed by a federal prosecutor installed by his Republican predecessor, not by him. When it comes to integrity, not all presidents are created equal.
As Special Counsel, Weiss will not only have the unquestioned authority to follow the trail of any evidence of Hunter Biden’s misconduct but to write a report documenting that evidence. The decision by Hunter Biden and his legal team to play “chicken” with the Justice Department may bring other adverse consequences home to roost. At a minimum, it means Biden will face extended uncertainty about his legal fate, and the Department probably will feel obliged to seek jail time for charges on which it had previously offered him probation.
How dumb was that?
Very. Not only for him, but for a Biden family that has already suffered badly from the terrible choices he’s made. This includes a father who, like most loving fathers would, has done everything he could to demonstrate his love for a son not only bent on self-destruction but prepared to hurt his family as well.
The GOP’s claim that they have “evidence” that incriminates President Biden has not withstood scrutiny, to put it mildly. House Oversight Chairman James Comer’s absent “star witness” against the President, one Gal Luft, turns out to be an international fugitive. Indicted earlier this year on a slew of federal charges, Luft was arrested in Cyprus and jumped bail while awaiting extradition. He’s in hiding somewhere.
Then there was Fox News’ Peter Doocy, who confronted President Biden claiming that Hunter’s former business partner had testified to Congress that the elder Biden was frequently “talking business” with his son’s business associates. Except that the former partner had actually testified that he had not heard any such discussions.
The GOP response to Weiss’ appointment as Special Counsel captures the moral quality of their Say Anything caucus. Last year 33 Republican Senators wrote Garland demanding he appoint Weiss as Special Counsel. Sen. Ted Cruz now denounces Weiss as “a wildly inappropriate person to be a Special Counsel.” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, another signatory, denounces Weiss as a “collaborator.” Sen. Ron Johnson now says Weiss “is probably the least independent person that Merrick Garland could have appointed.”
In other words: just another day of hooey-spewing in the Grand Old Party.
Jeff Robbins is a Boston lawyer and former U.S. delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council. He was chief counsel for the minority of the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.