To be fair, Hunter Biden’s plea deal, two years probation for failing to timely pay taxes for two years, even though already paid up, was pretty sweet. Even sweeter was the deal of diversion for lying on the form to obtain a handgun that he wasn’t an addict. It was a good deal. A really good deal. But with good counsel, even really good deals happen.
But what about Garland, the attorney general appointed by none other than Hunter Biden’s daddy? The investigation and prosecution of Hunter Biden was under the auspices of the United States Attorney for the District of Delaware. His name is David Weiss. He was appointed not by Biden, but by Trump, in 2018. Biden did not replace him with a new United States Attorney of his own choosing, as he could, because he sought to avoid the appearance of exactly what’s running through the overly fertile minds of conspiracy believers.
The investigation into Hunter Biden predates Mr. Garland’s appointment. It was initiated by the Justice Department under Mr. Trump in 2018 and placed under the U.S. attorney in Delaware, David C. Weiss, one of the few Trump-appointed prosecutors to be retained in the Biden administration.
Mr. Garland did not dismiss Mr. Weiss, a Republican, to ensure the appearance of impartiality — a strategy aimed at protecting the department, and to some degree himself, from accusations of political favoritism.
For his first two years as US Attorney, Weiss was under Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr, and his failure to find crimes with which to prosecute Hunter Biden can’t be blamed on Biden or Garland. After Trump lost the election and Biden kept Weiss on, there were no constraints placed on him by Washington. Had there been, there was nothing to stop Weiss from going public to say that Garland was trying to interfere with his prosecutorial discretion and blow the case up. It would have been devastating for Biden had that happened, but it didn’t. To be fair, even though Weiss was appointed by Trump, he was a well-regarded lawyer and prosecutor, and possessed of a level of integrity that was hard to find among Trump appointees.
After five years of investigation into Hunter, and presumably the “Big Man” at least before he was sworn in, because both were resident in the State of Delaware, this is the worst Weiss could do. You, like Rep. James Comer, find that hard to believe because you really don’t want to?
Without seeing the Sentencing Guidelines calculations in the plea agreement or the upcoming Presentence Report to be prepared by probation, it’s impossible to know with precision what sentence would be called for in the guidelines. Still, it’s almost certain that the sentence of probation and diversion constitute a significant downward departure from the guidelines sentence. What about that, you ask?
The assumption by those inclined to desperately seek a reason to believe this deal is far too lenient and ignores far more serious crimes is that the fix was in, either by Hunter’s loving father or his attorney general. Such an assumption, however, fails to take into account the fact that the deal was cut by Weiss, not Garland and certainly not Biden. Weiss owed no allegiance to Biden, and of all the mean things one can say about Garland, being a conniving attorney general is not one of them.
But even so, if there were any improper influence from Biden or Garland on Weiss, there was nothing to prevent Weiss from going public. Indeed, if this Trump appointee wanted to do some damage, a statement that his investigation into the prodigal son (and perhaps the “Big Man” as well) was compromised would have been damning. Yet, that never happened. There is absolutely no indication that Weiss was under any improper influence to go light on Hunter or leave any potential crime uninvestigated.
How then did Hunter get such a sweet, sweet deal? That happens when the target of an investigation has excellent lawyers who are able to do the work for which they were retained. Some might even draw an analogy to Trump’s lawyer and legal woes. While the plea deal is, indeed, excellent, good lawyers will do that for a client. It happens.
So rather than engage in baseless gymnastics to try to find a conspiracy that makes this deal a scam perpetrated by the Biden “crime family” with the help of its henchmen, Merrick Garland and David Weiss, there are three takeaways that are best explained by the presumption of regularity and Occam’s Razor.
First, the investigation revealed no other crimes by Hunter Biden than two years of late payment of taxes and a false statement on a federal gun application that he wasn’t an addict.
Second, five years of investigations under both Trump and Biden by a Trump-appointed United States Attorney is about as legitimate and trustworthy as any investigation and prosecution of a president’s son as could possibly be.
And third, it pays to have good lawyers rather than third-string sycophants who can be controlled and manipulated by ignorant narcissist.
You may not want to believe that the outcome of this investigation and prosecution of Hunter Biden is all there is, but there is no rational basis to believe otherwise. This is all there is.
Housekeeping Note: I have tried my best to be accommodating of diverse political views, but some of you have gone off the deep end into seriously insane or idiotic lies and conspiracy theories. For the most part, it’s non-lawyers who contribute nothing insightful here. Enough already. Anyone spewing such garbage will be banned. Take your idiocy to reddit if you must, but your absurd conspiracy crap no longer has a place here. I’ve had enough.
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We’ll, ok. Then let’s put Weiss in charge of all federal dealings with Darth Cheetoh. Because we now can reasonably assume that Weiss has a giant capacity for fairness even when dealing with the most disgusting among humanity. Others at DOJ/FBI have a teeny-tiny capacity for fairness. Size matters.
So explain for us what legitimate and legal reason exists for foreign companies and other foreign entities to pay Hunter – a classic ne’er do well son of a powerful father – tens of millions of dollars. There’s no dispute that those payments occurred, is there?
What value did Hunter provide as a board member/consultant? His areas of expertise seem to be cocaine and hookers and illegitimate children. Is oversight or advice in those areas that important to European and Asian companies? I think that I was born on the wrong continent.
I’m not complaining about conspiracies but the prima facia assumption on those payments has to be influence peddling, doesn’t it? What other explanation comes close to reasonable?
This plays right into Trump’s wheelhouse. People have become very aware that there are two sets of rules in play – one for the elites and one for us outsiders. The pandemic exposed it fully. The juxtaposition of the DOJ treatment of these two guys gives Trump a ton of credibility to claim outsider status again, even though it’s probably not true. And don’t be mistaken, I think trump is substantially guilty as charged.
I don’t want Trump back but it seems as if the Democrats and the current administration are doing everything they can to get Trump re-elected. Whether by intent or incompetence, I don’t know.
What part of “blame Weiss” completely eluded you?
You might want to consider whether companies paying Hunter Biden under the misguided belief that he had any influence over his father (or his father, as VP, had any influence over anything) was a crime or a massive mistake on the part of the companies. If they’re willing to pay Hunter millions for nothing, what’s criminal about Hunter taking it?
That’s the way you do it.
I didn’t miss the “don’t blame Weiss”, which is why I didn’t blame or even mention Weiss. And I’ve considered the chance that Biden was scamming the payers but you’d have thought that eventually the money would have dried up as word got around. And one of the companies he scammed under this hypothetical was a Russian FOP. Had he actually done so you’d have thought he’d have had an accident involving a fifth floor window by now.
It’s not an unreasonable question to ask. And if offspring of powerful US politicians selling access isn’t a crime it should be made one.
He said to blame Weiss, not “don’t blame Weiss.”
If you have evidence of influence peddling and not just JAQing off, show it. I’m sure the whole world would be interested.
Please don’t invite nonsense, as it will come if you seek it.
Fucking fuck. Five years of a Trump-appointed US Attorney and still that’s not good enough.
If companies couldn’t pay idiots millions if dollars to do nothing, there be no CEOs left.
Pretty certain I’m one of those non-lawyer idiots saying stupid stuff. Glad to be of service.
The Trump Whine Factory has patented responses anytime something like this happens.
In this case it will be “Mr. Weiss is obviously part of the Deep State”.
Does a U.S. Attorney owe more to the past president who first appointed him than the current president who allowed him to stay? If we are presuming patronage-based influence, wouldn’t it pass to the president who has the current say?
Why not neither?
I can find no reference to David Weiss being granted special counsel authority. R-Senators (2022) are claiming that refusal to grant this status gives the DOJ, not Weiss, control over the handling of a majority of alleged Hunter Biden crimes.
That’s because they are playing to stupid, gullible people. Sit down, James. I have something to tell you and it’s going to make you sad.
So Weiss did his job and decided the punishment within the confines of the law. I can accept that. Not a conspiracy.
However this case proves money can buy justice.
If I had lied on the form while buying a firearm I’d be in jail because I couldn’t afford the caliber of lawyers Biden had.
Don’t be poor. Words to live by in human civilization.
Very few instances of people lying on Form 4473 have been prosecuted, and even fewer for lying on the “drug use” question.
There is still a glaring conflict of interest regarding the Biden DOJ investigating Biden’s son – especially as regards multiple seven figure payments to the Biden family (with evidence that Pres. Biden himself may have benefited). That appearance of impropriety was simply not cured as it should have been with the appointment of a special prosecutor.
Even if the AG and investigating US attorney were Moses and the Buddha themselves, they would still have a conflict.
And those years when Trump was president and still no indictment? And if a special prosecutor was appointed, it would still be by the AG and so the deep state conspiracy would still be to blame. And on and on and on.
The “deep state conspiracy” is just politics. Take it or leave it.
The conflict itself is objectively real.
I don’t do criminal work, but if a decision were to be made as to whether or not I should be sued, I would love to have daddy’s law firm (or my own) make that determination.
Of course, if I were that firm’s client instead, there would be a pretty strong beef to make to the Bar.
Where the hell do all these flaming conspiracy nutjobs come from? I can see why you included your housekeeping note, and hope you really mean it that you’ve had enough of this assholes. This has really gotten out of hand and SJ’s been deluged with these crazies. It really has to stop.
I’ve trashed about a dozen comments today. It bothers me to deny people the opportunity to say their piece, no matter fucking stupid it is, but the crazy has to stop.
Meh. You aint seen nuthin pal. Headline at New Republic:
OceanGate CEO Missing in Titanic Sub Had History of Donating to GOP Candidates: Here’s who OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush has donated to
TL;DR: GOP donors deserve to drown a slow, suffocating death
But yeah, crazy is in the
waterair!No side owns crazy, and there’s more than enough of it to go around.
“It pays to have good lawyers.” Kinda says it all right there.
I just can’t get lathered up over a paperwork issue, other than to point out it suggests that perhaps a different tax scheme/format would be beneficial.
And as an Oregon resident where I am certain that there are many people who fill out the Form 4473 and check the “no drugs” box while, at the same time, planning their next visit to the nearest Green Store, the “drug user bought a gun” just doesn’t chafe much either. Again, suggesting that perhaps an adjustment of the laws is more in order.
Scott: I was listening to Dan Abrams last night, who seems like a moderate voice, who said prosecutors were being tough on Hunter because “almost no one gets prosecuted for lying on the gun forms” and “talk to any prosecutor and they will tell you this charge is rare” etc. but I have heard other say it is not rare. What say you?
I remember Danny when he was the kid who fetched coffee at MSNBC in Secaucus. Rare is relative. It happens, but isn’t the sort of charge feds go searching for. On the other hand, when they find it because they’re looking into allegations against Hunter Biden, what else can they do?
a) What wouldn’t work in the US doesn’t mean it won’t work outside CONUS.
b) If Burisma wanted to throw money at Hunter, was he obligated to throw it back?
c) If fiscal stupidity {by the Burisma BoD) was a crime, let’s look closer to home. AT&T’s has been shooting themself in their shareholder’s feet for years. Buy Direct TeeVee, sell it few years later for a small fraction of its price. More recently, they bought their way into Hollywood, and within months drove it to Titanic depth.
d) Suppose instead it was Saudi $$$$ and some golf guys instead? Did THEY throw that money back? [Or will an ex-POTUS suddenly soon find he’s the one in the Green Jacket?]
While it may have been highly unethical of Hunter to take the money under false pretenses, that doesn’t make it a crime.
So, I am an attorney, but don’t do much Federal practice and have no criminal law experience. We all suspect this deal is well below the sentencing guidelines. As far as I can tell from the facts, the gun charge is an absolute slam-dunk case, and the tax case is very strong.
Is it normal to seriously depart from the sentencing guidelines as a “reward” for plea bargains in general when the case is very strong?
You beg the question. Is the case very strong? It’s not as if we really have a clue what the defense had to argue.
Well, he admitted to drug use in his book while he bought a gun, and there are many videos of him using drugs on the laptop, so yes, I do think that case is very strong.
I know less about the strength of the tax case.
There’s a lot more to criminal defense than that.
The truth is this. We will probably never know whether the Hunter Biden deal was a sweet or sweetheart one. I doubt we will see the Probation Officer’s Report. (They are certainly confidential in non-diversion cases.) So, we won’t know all the background facts of the case. We also won’t know whether, as a condition of the deal, Hunter was required to proffer or testify concerning broader investigations that may apparently be ongoing in either SDNY or the District of Delaware. I would have required it, if it was my case.
As you correctly point out, Weiss is well-regarded as a lawyer and prosecutor. I am unable to associate myself with your thesis that his level of integrity was “hard to find” among Trump appointees, and I don’t think you could prove it if you cared to try.
For what it’s worth, I was told by a long-time Wilmington criminal defense attorney (whom I trust) several months ago that Weiss would bring a criminal case if there was one to be brought. Although Weiss was originally hired as an AUSA in a Republican Administration, that, as you know, means nothing in most districts and would have certainly meant little in Delaware, which has not had a GOP Senator since 2001 and had a liberal Republican Senator when Weiss was first hired in the eighties. In addition, Weiss served as First Assistant under both Republican and Democratic Administrations and was the Acting and Interim U.S. Attorney in the first two years of the Obama Administration.
I have also been assured that the lead Tax Division attorney on the case is an extremely aggressive prosecutor, also with a good reputation–at least within DOJ and former DOJ circles. This means that if the tax case was thrown, it wasn’t thrown at the line level.
But I would not say that Weiss owes no allegiance to Biden and/or pro-Biden and Democratic circles. As I know you know, U.S. Attorneys (and U.S. District Judges) are only technically appointed by the President. In reality, they are chosen in each state by the sitting Senator or Senators of the current President’s party. If there is no such Senator to be found, the opposite party’s Senators have unquestioned veto power over the President’s choice. This would have been the situation when Trump nominated Weiss.
And Delaware is a very small, clubby, and (overwhelmingly) Democratic state.
Finally, I will note that the DOJ’s Justice Manual, unenforceable in court, provides that no district’s Pretrial Diversion Program should offer diversion, absent approval form the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, to anyone “[a]ccused of an offense involving brandishing or use of a firearm or other deadly weapon.” I’m not sure offhand if Hunter fits into that definition.
So, assuming that Hunter got a sweetheart rather than just a sweet deal, we can blame Weiss. But there is zero indication that Weiss is a Trumpista or anything other than a Trump appointee in name only.
Geez. Does your BLAWG give out Top Fan badges?
That Weis was no Trumpista is less the point than that he’s no Bidenista either. I expect he played it straight, which is what he should have done.
The point of bringing up Weiss’ having been appointed by Trump wasn’t to argue that he was Trump’s guy, but to preempt the response of MAGAs that Hunter was prosecuted by daddy’s guy so it was a sham sweetheart deal and a coverup of his (and daddy’s) selling access.
And I want a Top Fan Badge, Greenfield!
At the risk of having my comment flushed again, what’s your opinion of Jason Smith’s Ways and Means Committee releasing the testimony today of 2 IRS whistleblowers who say the IRS was ready to charge Hunter much more seriously, but Main Justice stopped that from happening? Such testimony isn’t absolutely conclusive, but it is mighty suggestive, and I would say worth more investigation. I also think the Main Justice officials involved in the charging decision need to be sworn and grilled. The IRS is never happy when tax cases are flushed or mostly swept under the rug.
Mr. Greenfield with great deference to your law experience, I can’t see the Hunter deal as being a great coup for Hunter’s lawyers. It seems much more likely to be the prosecution rolling over and playing dead. Or in Jonathan Turley’s opinion, a controlled demolition, aimed at sparing the rest of the Bidens. Turley is also an experienced lawyer.
The allegations should be investigated. If true, it’s a big deal.
Major flaw in your argument:!You say Weiss was chosen by President Trump, not Biden. Technically correct but the position he occupied immediately before that was “Acting” U.S. Attorney, and he began that gig on January 20, 2009, Inauguration Day for President Obama.
You have to really, really want that to be a flaw to miss the point by so much.
It is a flaw, and you must have recognized it as such or you would not have omitted 8 years of Weiss’s career to describe him as a Trump appointee.