Hunter gets a special counsel … but is it good or bad news for him?
I guess the answer to the headline question is that it certainly is not good news – but maybe not as bad as one might assume. Let us first take a look at how we got here.
In phase one, Hunter Biden gets embroiled in a number of questionable misadventures – from drug addiction, sex scandals, paternity controversies, questionable business deals and accusations of influence peddling. There was also an issue of not registering as a foreign agent, producing personal porn videos and illegally obtaining a gun. The variety of his misbehaviors is impressive.
Though scandal followed Hunter like a cadaver dog in a cemetery, it was the notorious laptop that put Hunter at the top of the news coverage. But that event that was controversial, with everyone on the left – the White House, the FBI, and the Biden-friendly media — falsely claiming that the laptop was a Russian dirty trick. Unfortunately for the Bidens, the truth was too much to be buried behind a few strategized lies.
Hunter’s main hope was to have Democrats retain control of the House and its powers to investigate. When that did not happen, Hunter became a “person of interest” among House Republicans.
For the past five years, Hunter has been under investigation by David Weiss, the Trump-appointed Delaware prosecutor. It appeared that Hunter was about to slip out of the accountability noose when Weiss and the Biden lawyers agreed to the most sweetheart of deals ever presented in a federal court. He would get (1) a slap on the wrist for tax evasion, (2) have his gun charges wiped away with a “diversion” deal (something never seen in a federal court before) and (3) have other potential crimes go uncharged.
Weeell … the deal was so obnoxious that federal Judge Maryellen Noreika refused to accept it – telling both sides to come back with a more justified deal. The two sides could not agree – so it appears that Hunter will be standing trial for both the tax and gun charges.
Before that could happen, however, Weiss asked that he be elevated to special counsel in carrying forward the Hunter Biden investigation. AND … in a bombshell surprise, Attorney General Merrick Garland agreed to name Weiss as special counsel. This has made no one happy.
The White House avoided any official response, but a cold sweat broke out in the Oval Office. Democrats rhetorically inquired … what could Weiss uncover that he had not uncovered in the five years he was already investigating Hunter? That investigation was not done, however.
On the other side of the aisle, Republicans were smelling a whitewash. Wasn’t Weiss the guy who offered Hunter that mother of all plea deals? Garland’s choice of Weiss raises a lot of questions. Normally, a special counsel would be chosen from outside the Department of Justice – but not always.
From my perspective, I think the appointing of a special counsel is bad news for Hunter – and other members of the Biden family, including Papa Biden. Garland most assuredly knew that Weiss was not an objective investigator. He had already done a number of things that appeared to be helpful to Hunter. In addition to the unprecedented plea deal, Weiss had allowed the statute of limitations to run out on a number of Biden’s potentially criminal activities.
As special counsel, Weiss has significantly greater powers and authority. He can myopically focus on the Biden case – and will have a lot more money and personnel at his disposal. He can investigate anything – not just tax evasion and gun charges. AND … he can investigate and charge crimes in any jurisdiction without the permission of the local U.S. attorney. He is not limited to Delaware.
For the first time, the Department of Justice, by proxy, is putting the affairs of Hunter and his family under the microscope and not sweeping it all under the rug. Or so it seems. Some see it as a means of undermining the House investigation of Hunter and other Bidens.
What, you might ask, would prevent Weiss from conducting a window dressing investigation and then letting Hunter off the hook again? What if this is a political charade played out in the halls of justice?
There is that possibility – and it is too early to call it one way or the other. But methinks the public pressure on Weiss and the Department of Justice – along with the weight of the evidence incriminating Hunter and potentially implicating Papa Biden – would make it very difficult to dismiss all the evidence and charges. I suspect that Weiss values his reputation too much to play that game. But I could be wrong.
I mention the “weight of the evidence” even in the face of the claims from the left that there is not one scintilla of evidence connecting Papa Biden to the business practices of his son. True … there is no smoking gun at this point. No hard evidence, as they call it. But there is more than enough circumstantial evidence to warrant a closer look at the senior Biden –not the least of which is the President’s series of baldfaced lies about his knowledge of Biden’s business interests and his numerous meetings and phone calls with Hunter’s business associates – a number of whom are described as unscrupulous. And then there are those millions of dollars that flowed through shell corporations to members of the Biden family – including the prepubescent set. In view of his own multimillion-dollar fortune, why was Hunter paying daddy’s personal bills?
For sure … a lot of this is yet to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt – or to be explained away. But no objective person can argue that the Hunter Biden issues should not be thoroughly investigated. Such an investigation should go where subsequent evidence takes it – even if it is to the Oval Office. Regardless, President Biden is likely to be dealing with the “Hunter problem” throughout the campaign.
What just a few weeks ago looked like an exit ramp from legal jeopardy for Hunter is now the reopening and reconsideration of every matter that has been dogging First Son and his dad for the past several years. It likely means more criminal charges against Hunter to be adjudicated in courts of law. No sweetheart deals(?). And I personally believe that there is the prospect of some jail time. We cannot predict any criminal outcome for the President, but it is a question mark that hangs over his head like the Sword of Damocles – and will for the rest of the campaign.
So, there ‘tis.