After a Tuesday court filing revealed that President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden made a plea agreement with the Department of Justice, The View's Sunny Hostin claimed that it shows "no one is above the law." However, Republican politicians disagree, calling the agreement a "sweetheart deal" and a "slap on the wrist."
According to the deal, Hunter will plead guilty to two counts of "willful failure to pay" his federal income taxes, as well as enter a "Pretrial Diversion Agreement" regarding a charge of possession of a firearm "by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance."
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The show brought on Chief Washington Correspondent for ABC News Jonathan Karl to discuss the breaking news.
After he briefed the hosts on the deal, Hostin said, "It shows no one is above the law, which is important, not even the president’s son."
Karl explained that Republicans will take issue with it. He told the hosts they will complain "that it didn’t look at the bigger issues."
"This is going to be continued to be investigated, these issues of conflict of interest and playing off his name and the Biden family name will be investigated by Congress, by Republicans in Congress. And the issue is not going away," he said, referencing Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and the House Oversight Committee's investigations into the Biden family's business dealings.
Joy Behar attempted to dismiss concerns raised by Republicans, asking, "But doesn’t this show, Karl, that Biden is not in the pocket of the DOJ?"
He acknowledged that Biden didn't appear to interfere, but also pointed out once again that Republicans will not be satisfied with the deal.
"So on a scale of one to Jared [Kushner] taking $2 billion from the Saudis, how does this look?" asked Behar. The host was referring to a $2 billion investment from a fund headed by the Saudi crown prince into Kushner's new private equity firm just six months after he departed his role in the White House.
Karl answered, "I don’t want to compare it to what Jared Kushner has done, but there are significant concerns about Hunter Biden’s business dealings."
"He has — the contract that he had with the Ukrainian energy company. Also his business dealings in China. One of the details that we reported earlier that they were looking into that’s just so strange — he was given, Hunter Biden was given, a 2.8-carat diamond from a Chinese business associate. What’s it all about? We don’t know," he explained.
After news broke of the deal, Republicans immediately expressed their displeasure.
“Let’s be clear: The Department of Justice’s charges against President Biden’s son Hunter reveal a two-tiered system of justice,” Comer said in a statement. “These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee’s investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes are revealed.”
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According to House GOP Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the DOJ's double standard is clear. “They give a slap on the wrist to President Biden’s son — a tax fraud and corrupt pay-to-play criminal,” she said in a statement. “It’s never been more clear that we have a two tiered system of justice when you have the son of the sitting President of the United States selling our country out to the highest bidder, laundering money, committing tax fraud, accepting bribes, illegally obtaining a firearm, and shamefully avoiding child support.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who is currently running for president, also responded to the deal. "Looks like Hunter received a sweetheart deal and is not facing any charges on the massive corruption allegations. If Hunter was not connected to the elite DC class he would have been put in jail a long time ago," he tweeted.