(Liberty Bell) – Three House Committees, led by members of the GOP launched a probe on Monday into the botched probation-only plea deal attempted by Hunter Biden, which completely imploded last Wednesday while being scrutinized by a Delaware federal judge after critics ripped it apart, calling it a “slap on the wrist.”
“The panels, which are investigating President Biden’s role in his son’s foreign dealings, demanded in a letter obtained by The Post that Attorney General Merrick Garland provide information on the pact, including data that would show exactly how unprecedented the generous terms were,” Steve Nelson of the New York Post wrote. “Two provisions buried in a leaked diversion agreement would have granted Hunter, 53, broad immunity for past crimes, despite a prosecutor’s claims to the contrary in court, and would have prevented the Justice Department from charging Hunter if he violated the terms of his probation unless a judge gave permission.”
“The Department’s unusual plea and pretrial diversion agreements with Mr. Biden raise serious concerns — especially when combined with recent whistleblower allegations — that the Department has provided preferential treatment toward Mr. Biden,” the congressional leaders went on to say concerning the investigation.
The letter was signed by Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, and Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, as well as Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. James Smith, a Missouri Republican, who goes on to cite the reaction of U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who shot down the agreement a week ago.
“In short, the Department shifted a broad immunity provision, which benefits Mr. Biden, from the plea agreement to the pretrial diversion agreement apparently to prevent the District Court from being able to scrutinize and reject that immunity provision,” the committee leaders said in the letter. “And then, the Department has benefitted Mr. Biden by giving up its unilateral ability to bring charges against him if it concludes that he has breached the pretrial diversion agreement. Instead, it has placed upon itself the burden of getting the District Court’s permission to bring charges even though the District Court normally has no role in policing a pretrial diversion agreement in that manner.”
“So, the District Court is apparently removed from the equation when it helps Mr. Biden and inserted into the equation when it helps Mr. Biden,” the letter added.
The Republicans heading up the committees then declared in the letter that the GOP is “concerned that, contrary to its representations to the Judiciary Committee, the Department may be claiming that other investigations into Mr. Biden are ongoing to shield the Department from Congressional oversight about this matter.”
“In that regard, it was notable that Mr. Biden’s counsel stated at the hearing that it was his understanding that the immunity provision in the pretrial diversion agreement would preclude the Department from bringing charges against Mr. Biden under the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” the letter explained. “While the Department did not agree with that position, it is difficult to understand how the parties would not have a meeting of the minds regarding a clause of the agreement as fundamental as the scope of the immunity provision, and it raises questions about what discussions have taken place between the Department and Mr. Biden’s counsel regarding the status of those investigations.”
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican — which is more rare than a unicorn that spits out Skittles — remarked last week that Republicans are now on track to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden’s part in his son’s foreign business dealings, noting that all three of these committees would be participating in that process.
Devon Archer, a close former business associate of Hunter’s, provided testimony before Congress on Monday to the Oversight Committee concerning his knowledge of the role Joe Biden played in the first son’s work with both Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs, which includes Mykola Zlochevsky of Burisma Holdings, a firm that was paying Hunter a handsome salary of a million dollars to serve on its board. An informant with the FBI revealed that Zlochevsky claimed he was “coerced” into paying out bribes to then-Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden for a total of $10 million.
Nelson penned in his report, “Although Assistant US Attorney Leo Wise told Noreika in court last week that the government could bring additional charges against Hunter for crimes such as violating the Foreign Agent Registration Act through his lucrative work in China, Ukraine and other countries, defense attorney Chris Clark stridently disagreed in court and the underlying paperwork seemed to back his understanding.”
The diversion agreement disclosed, “The United States agrees not to criminally prosecute Biden, outside of the terms of this Agreement, for any federal crimes encompassed by the attached Statement of Facts (Attachment A) and the Statement of Facts attached as Exhibit 1 to the Memorandum of Plea Agreement filed this same day.”
“This grant of immunity in the pretrial diversion agreement therefore not only covers the gun-related conduct addressed by the pretrial diversion agreement but also the entirely unrelated conduct covered by the plea agreement,” congressional leaders asserted.
The letter sent to Attorney General Garland points out that Judge Noreika asked Wise if he “had any precedent for agreeing not to prosecute crimes that have nothing to do with the case or the charges being diverted.”
“[Wise] responded: ‘I’m not aware of any, Your Honor.’ Judge Noreika followed up by asking the prosecutor: ‘[H]ave you ever seen a Diversion Agreement where the agreement not to prosecute is so broad that it encompasses crimes in a different case?’ The [assistant US attorney’s] answer was ‘No,'” the letter noted.
The congressional letter then asks Garland, who himself is now the target of an investigation for allegedly providing false testimony concerning Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ ability to charge the first son outside of his own district, to give information about the pending case against the president’s troubled son, along with other information connected to the plea agreements. He has until Aug. 14 to comply.
The panel also asks for a “generalized description of the nature of the Department’s ongoing investigation(s) concerning Hunter Biden” and “an explanation of why the Department originally agreed to a plea agreement if other investigation(s) concerning Hunter Biden are ongoing.”
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