House Republicans took a victory lap after Hunter Biden was convicted of three felony gun charges on Tuesday, arguing that their oversight investigations helped bring the case against the president’s son to trial.
“A year ago, Hunter Biden was offered a sweetheart deal that would have allowed him to bypass the justice system on these charges,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said on X. “Because whistleblowers spoke out and House Republicans sounded the alarm, Hunter was brought to court. Today he was found guilty of all charges.”
Mr. Johnson and other House Republicans argued that the Justice Department’s initial agreement with Mr. Biden that would have allowed him to avoid any prosecution on the gun charges in exchange for pleading guilty to misdemeanor tax charges was a “sweetheart deal” that would not have been granted if he were not the president’s son.
The plea deal fell apart last year under questioning from U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, an appointee of former President Donald Trump who presided over Biden’s gun trial in Delaware.
The timing of the plea deal falling apart came not long after House Republicans released testimony from two whistleblowers who worked at the IRS on Biden’s tax case claiming their investigation was hampered by Justice Department officials.
The president’s son now will go to trial in September on the tax charges, which are being prosecuted in California.
“If it were not for the IRS whistleblowers coming forward to the Ways and Means Committee, Hunter Biden would have never faced accountability for the crimes he has committed,” Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, Missouri Republican, said on X. “Today’s verdict is a step towards ensuring equal application of the law, regardless of one’s last name.”
The IRS whistleblowers’ testimony has been central to GOP investigations into purported political interference at the Justice Department and an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
The case against the president focused on whether he abused his previous position as vice president to help his son and his brother amass foreign business deals in exchange for kickbacks.
Mr. Johnson said in his X post on Biden’s gun-charges conviction that the Justice Department needs to pick up House Republicans’ investigative threads on the Biden family’s business deals.
“Now it’s time for DOJ to investigate the millions of dollars in payouts from foreign countries looking to curry favor with his father,” he said. “We will continue to demand accountability for the corrupt business dealings of the Biden family.”
Republican leaders have largely abandoned plans to vote on impeaching Mr. Biden, although they continue to receive pressure from the right flank of the conference to do so.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, is considering forcing a vote on the matter herself since impeachment resolutions are privileged and can be brought to the floor by any member.
The House Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department last week recommending Hunter and James Biden be charged with making false statements to Congress in their depositions before the panels for the impeachment inquiry.
Oversight Chairman James Comer called the guilty verdict in Biden’s gun trial “a step toward accountability.”
“But until the Department of Justice investigates everyone involved in the Bidens’ corrupt influence peddling schemes that generated over $18 million in foreign payments to the Biden family, it will be clear department officials continue to cover for the Big Guy, Joe Biden,” the Kentucky Republican said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Mr. Comer and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter to CIA Director William J. Burns requesting a briefing on allegations the Central Intelligence Agency interfered in the Justice Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.