The prosecutors gave Hunter Biden a sweetheart plea bargain to end the tax fraud and gun case against him. For offenses that most certainly would have landed you or me in jail for years, Hunter got . . .
. . . [drum roll] . . .
. . . nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero jail time. He didn’t even have to pay all of his unpaid taxes because the prosecution dallied so long that the statute of limitations ran out.
And the deal apparently immunized him against unrelated charges. He would walk, a new man.
Well, not entirely. He would still be a man who was a drug addict, a deadbeat dad, a pervert, a tax evader, and a slouch. (But give him credit for his paintings!) But he would be a man immunized from any accountability for his crimes.
Meanwhile, Congress continues to investigate Hunter. Or as the media likes to say, “Republicans have seized” and “Republicans have pounced” upon the allegations.
Those pouncing and seizing Republicans – can’t they just move on?
No, they can’t and shouldn’t. There’s more to investigate about Hunter – including the involvement of his dad – than the Republicans can shake a gavel or a bong at. One part of Congress’ investigation involves credible testimony from whistleblowers at the FBI suggesting that Hunter and his dad each took a $5,000,000 bribe when dad was Vice President. Another part of the investigation involves this very plea deal for Hunter.
The prosecutor and the Hunter lawyers would like not to testify in the Congressional investigation. Telling the truth would be politically messy, and telling lies entails perjury since testimony to Congress is under oath. And not the kind of oaths that dad frequently uses in kicking his dog and berating his staff.
So, the lawyers for Hunter and the prosecutors of him got together and cooked up a scheme to avoid anyone testifying to Congress. They’re telling Congress that the investigation is ongoing. Sorry, they say, but telling Congress about an ongoing investigation would compromise it.
When they went before the judge for her blessing on their plea deal, however, their testimony-evading scheme blew up in their faces.
The judge was uncomfortable with signing off on a plea bargain where Hunter was immunized against unrelated offenses. It wasn’t clear to her under the proposed deal whether he was immunized or not, so she asked the lawyers.
The prosecutor said no, the investigation is ongoing with regard to those other offenses. That’s of course the story they’re telling Congress to avoid having to testify in the Congressional investigation.
But then Hunter’s lawyers, nervous that the prosecutor’s statement to the judge would leave open the door for such further investigations, disputed the prosecutor. They told the judge that their understanding was the plea bargain ended all investigations.
This is a very basic point, and you can’t have it both ways. Either the investigation is ongoing as the prosecutor told Congress, or it’s over as Hunter’s lawyers told the judge. One of the two sides was lying to the judge, and the other was lying to Congress.
The judge refused to approve the deal, saying she needs more time to consider it. This is very unusual. Judges rarely second guess plea bargains.
I’m guessing the judge will still approve the deal, but with clarification that the other matters remain open for investigation. Unfortunately, she has no way to ensure that those other matters will in fact get investigated. That’s up to dad’s Department of Justice.
In any event, I hope the judge considers some discipline against the lawyers. Back when I practiced law, misleading a federal judge would land you in the slammer for the night, and when you got out the next morning you’d find your law license suspended and a disbarment proceeding under way.
Postscript: It’s not widely reported, but the judge also set conditions on Hunter staying free on his own recognizance. He’s required to seek a job (presumably something other than a half mil a year “working” for a Ukrainian oil company) and stay free of drugs and alcohol, else he can be confined, i.e. jailed. This could get interesting.
Glenn Beaton practiced law in the federal courts, including the Supreme Court.
the Aspen beat 
When Joe placed Hunter front-and-center during his inauguration instead of hiding him in the basement as any traditional politician would have done, he was making the very bold and clear statement that Hunter was an “untouchable”.
And everything that Hunter has done unquestionably suggests that Hunter believes it.
I bet there are some very interesting communications going on regarding this judge and her future this evening.
“I’m guessing the Judge will still approve the deal, but with clarification that the other matters remain open for investigation. Unfortunately, she has no way to ensure that those other matters will in fact get investigated. That’s up to dad’s Department of Justice.”
Not holding my breath. ‘Cause untouchable.
“…I hope the judge considers some discipline against the lawyers. Back when I practiced law, misleading a federal judge would land you in the slammer for the night, and when you got out the next morning you’d find your law license suspended and a disbarment proceeding under way.”
Also untouchable.
In the meantime, will someone please ask Joe why unlike with the rest of us, Hunter doesn’t have to pay his “fair share” of taxes?
Appropriate, considering Hunter has spent most of his time with his pants down.
Didn’t the judge say she’s put people in jail for similar gun charges?
I’m reminded of a March 2023 article by one of my favorite commentators:
“In the old days before the extinction of journalism, journalists would sometimes dig up that evidence. These days, they don’t.
I doubt a bribery case will succeed against Joe Biden. His ultimate defense would be “Yeah, I took the money in exchange for favors, but I never delivered on the favors. I cheated those bastards!”
It’s become clear as day that for Democrats, progressives, socialists, leftists, and whatever other term or current fashionable label that they may go by, reaping wealth via cronyism and kickbacks is just a standard way of achieving success, i.e., their version of what they see as the American Dream.
Such people are incapable of earning legitimate wealth through hard work and/or creative enterprises that actually benefit humanity and raise the standards of society. Rather instead, they use their political connections and influence to feather their own nests and line their silk pockets to the detriment of our country. They have monetized politics to make themselves wealthy. And wealth and power are just two sides of the same coin.
It’s not just the Biden Family who does this, although the Biden Family’s Crime Inc. seems to have this down to a high form of art and science. Think of the Union bosses who endorse such political cronies like Joe Biden … these Union bosses earn high six figure salaries while getting chauffeured around in limousines, first class seats, and attending tony banquet dinners and fundraisers.
Yet America’s kids and parents continue to get cheated as our public schools slide into an academic and moral abyss. But, at least Randi Weingarten got a first class tour of Ukraine and got to meet its maximum leader! And she continues to confidently lie to all of our faces how much she supports the children.
Even closer to home, city managers of modest 100,000 population cities routinely earn up to $500K per year, more than the US President, a five-star general, or a US Supreme Court Justice. So much for “public service” and being a selfless steward of the citizenry.
Everything within the public sector seemingly resembles more and more of a scam, at all levels. Here where I am in California, one of the highest taxed states in the nation, the roads and highways suck, the traffic sucks, crime largely goes unpunished, gas and food prices are soaring, yet the state and local politicians continue to gaslight everyone by telling us what a wonderful job they are doing for the public. It would be one thing if all these high taxes and onerous regulations had a perfected utopian society to show as a result. But, the result here looks just like a corrupted third world banana republic.
I think there was once an adage that goes something like … those who can, do; those who can’t, teach. Perhaps there should be a corollary to this that goes … those who can, do; those who can’t, politic.
The political class has never been worse, at least in my lifetime. And as far as the Biden Family’s Crime Inc., goes, it is my contention that the double standard of justice will continue, unabated. The Dems, the mainstream media, and the rest of the establishment are not even pretending anymore. They all know how ugly this looks and they know that we know how ugly this all looks, yet they will continue to blatantly and sociopathically lie to all of our faces.
The wheels on the bus have fallen off, yet Kamala Harris just chortles along saying how much she loves riding in school buses.
In the end, first son Hunter is and will be untouchable, only until his demented dad is out of power or pushing up daisies. The current occupies of the Oval Office would unhesitatingly pardon Hunter in a New York second because protecting Hunter means he is protecting himself, his legacy, and his entire career in politics stretching back five decades. Whatever day is Joe Biden’s last day in office, that will be the day that Hunter gets a presidential pardon, justice, ethics and public perception all be damned.
Democrats version of politics may be their version of the American Dream, but to the rest of America it has become a nightmare. The rotten apple never falls far from the poisonous tree. Meanwhile … the political establishment just wants to serve us another slice of apple pie. If it doesn’t taste so good, they’ll just add a scoop of ice cream to make it go down easier.
Bon appétit!
Amen. “Civil Service” has long since shamelessly morphed into “Civil Self-Service”, especially in large Progressive states like California.
If I knew at 18 what I know now, after high school instead of going to college I would have gotten a job with the state and worked my way up over the decades until being able to retire in my 50s with near-full pay and a retirement package with a net present value in the millions.
No, you wouldn’t have, John. You’re made of sterner stuff than that. G
Glenn, thanks for the flattery and probably true, I am afraid. At least I can live with myself and sleep at night, in more ways than one.
The problem is that Progressives are focused on literally stealing my retirement nest egg to pad theirs. (Inflation is their best tool for doing that) At some point, the employee pension pyramid scheme in California and other blue states is going to collapse and naturally they’ll be going to the federal government to bail them out. At my expense.
My friends who are on the California retirement gravy train may take a bit of a haircut, but it won’t compare to the ones you and I will be forced to take.
The first corollary of “Those who can’t do, teach” is “Those who can’t teach, teach teachers” — in “Ed” curricula where they pass along all the Marxist crap they learned in getting their “Dr. Jill” degrees.
“Whatever day is Joe Biden’s last day in office, that will be the day that Hunter gets a presidential pardon, …” Only a convicted person can receive a pardon. Joe will block any pursuit of a conviction, so a pardon will never be necessary (or occur). Instead, the obstruction will have the crimes expire under the statute of limitations as we’ve seen already.
Actually, people can receive pardons without being convicted. The most famous one was President Ford’s pardon of former President Nixon.
Hunter Biden is an unregistered foreign agent in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. ..
Kash Patel said the judge specifically mentioning FARA indicates that the issue had come up during the discovery process..
Paul Manafort was prosecuted and .. for failing to register as a foreign agent..
But that was (D)ifferent.
True (D)hat!
Powerline blog has some good updated reportage and analysis that dovetails with this Aspen Beat write-up.
See: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/07/this-is-bigger-than-hunter-biden-and-even-joe-biden.php