Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, certainly received a “sweetheart” deal, avoiding jail time altogether for multiple felony gun and tax charges that were levied against him.
Now, many former officials of the Department of Justice are urging the federal judge in Delaware who will preside over his arraignment to reject the plea deal. Those who are pushing for a rejection say that a majority of Americans believe that Hunter Biden is getting off easy, and that most other Americans wouldn’t be so lucky.
Rasmussen Reports revealed earlier this week that 55% of likely voters said they disagreed with the plea deal negotiated between Hunter Biden and prosecutors. The poll they posted asked various questions about the agreement that will see him plead guilty to some tax charges while entering a diversion program for a gun charge that will ultimately see him completely avoid spending time in jail.
The results of this poll come just about one week following an op-ed written by Eileen O’Connor, the former leader of the tax division of the DOJ, for the Wall Street Journal. That op-ed was titled “Throw Hunter Biden’s Plea Deal in the Trash.”
In the op-ed, O’Connor said the judge in the case should consider rejecting the plea deal altogether, something he has the power to do.
She said the details of the agreement – which was struck between David Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware and Biden’s legal team – ultimately “gives credence” to the claims that were made by Gary Shapley, a whistleblower for the IRS.
Shapley is a current agent at the IRS and has worked there for more than 14 years. He also oversaw a portion of the agency’s investigation into Hunter Biden.
During a June 27 interview he gave to CBS, Shapley said he and his team were prohibited from taking “certain investigative steps” he said could’ve led all the way up to the White House. He said he wasn’t allowed to bring charges against Biden in other jurisdictions, while the DOJ also denied him status as special counsel.
In her op-ed, O’Connor referred specifically to a portion of testimony that Shapley gave to Congress where he said that on October 7 of 2022, Weiss said he wasn’t the ultimate decision-maker about whether charges could be levied against Hunter Biden.
She wrote in her op-ed:
“It was this statement that shocked and troubled Mr. Shapley such that he braved the consequences of becoming a whistleblower and sought legal counsel on how to do so.”
O’Connor continued that what’s “far worse” is Attorney General Merrick Garland’s “failure to designate Mr. Weiss a special counsel essentially guaranteed that Mr. Biden wouldn’t be prosecuted for any of his alleged tax crimes.”
Shapley has said that Weiss wanted to charge Biden with a few felonies related to evading paying taxes on $2.2 million, but that he wasn’t given the authority to bring those charges in either Washington, D.C., or California.
