The NPR Politics Podcast - House GOP Delights As Hunter Biden Plea Agreement Stalls

Episode Date: July 27, 2023

The judge in the Hunter Biden case said Wednesday she is not ready to accept the plea deal struck between the president's son and the Justice Department. Judge Maryellen Noreika demanded that the lawyers from both sides make clear that the deal does not convey broad immunity offered to Biden from prosecution on his business dealings. The development comes a little more than a month after Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor offenses related to his filing of federal income taxes. Federal authorities also charged him with a felony firearm offense, for which he agreed to enter a pretrial diversion program that allows him to avoid prosecution.This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh, and political correspondent Susan Davis.The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Connect:Email the show at [e-mail] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Subscribe to the NPR Politics NewsletterLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Good morning, this is Miss Aqua Viva with Maddie and Noah at Chelsea School in Hyattsville, Maryland. This podcast was recorded at 12 44 p.m eastern time on Thursday, July 27th of 2023. Students are currently in summer school session and they have some life advice for listeners today. Keep the time in your life on track and do not forget to do what you love. Keep the time in your life on track. And do not forget to do what you love. By the time you hear this, things may have changed. Okay, here's the show. It's amazing advice. So wise and so young. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Asma Khalid. I cover the White House. I'm Susan Davis. I cover politics. And I'm Deirdre Walsh. I cover Congress.

And it has been a chaotic week in politics. The president's son, Hunter Biden, saw his plea deal fall apart within hours under questioning in the courtroom. This is happening as the Speaker of the House previewed an impeachment push against his father, the president of the United States. So, Deirdre, let's start the conversation here with Hunter Biden. He appeared in federal court in Delaware where he intended to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges for failure to pay his taxes during a time period in which Hunter acknowledges he was addicted to drugs. And separately, he was intending to respond to charges that he illegally purchased a firearm. The judge unexpectedly said she is not ready to

make a decision in this case. She specifically wanted clarification about how this plea deal might grant Hunter Biden immunity for other possible crimes he had committed or could have committed. And, you know, this raises questions about whether or not he still could be charged in the future. So anyhow, I imagine, Deirdre, that this all is music to the ears of some House Republicans who have been decrying this deal from the outset and making a big show of investigating the president's son. For sure. I ran into House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer shortly after this news broke, and he basically said, I told you so. And he even before the plea deal, he was complaining about Hunter Biden's

lawyers saying they were stonewalling his committee and misrepresenting things. And he was saying, look, they even went into this plea agreement saying that there was no ongoing investigation. And he said, I keep saying there is an ongoing investigation. And now David Weiss, the prosecutor from the Justice Department, agrees with me. And this is the reason why House Republicans should continue investigating these allegations. Comer is specifically focused on the allegations that Hunter Biden, at the time when Joe Biden was vice president, was looping his father into business deals with foreign companies. He has no evidence of these allegations, but he's continuing to put them out there. And Devin Archer, the former business

associate of Hunter Biden, is scheduled to talk to the House Oversight Committee on Monday. You know, there is no doubt that Hunter Biden's struggles are a political challenge for the president. I mean, there are these reports about a daughter he fathered that the Biden family doesn't really acknowledge at all. You know, there's reports about artwork that Hunter Biden has made that was reportedly purchased by a wealthy Democratic donor. And whenever the White House is asked about Hunter Biden, they don't really engage in answers. You know, earlier this week at the top of the White House press briefing, the press secretary began with a statement about Hunter. She said that he is a private citizen and that this all was a personal matter for him. She reiterated that the president loves his son

and supports him as he's tried to rebuild his life. And, you know, the White House has repeatedly pointed out that this case involving the plea deal is being handled independently by the Justice Department under the leadership of a prosecutor appointed by former President Donald Trump. I mean, Democrats on the Hill immediately state that the prosecutor, David Weiss, was nominated by former President Trump. Jerry Nadler, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said that to me right after the news about the plea deal broke. He also said, look, you know, I feel badly that the president has a son who has an addiction problem. This is a private matter. But I think the thing that House Republicans are jumping on is the fact that the one public thing that the president has said recently is that I've never talked to anyone in my family about any of these business deals. But more recently, the White House line is the president

isn't in business with his son. So Republicans see sort of an opening or possibly a contradiction, like did he ever talk to Hunter about it? And Nadler's like, look, he's a father. Of course, he talks to his son about his life. So I think that there's a lot of, you know, politics, obviously, around all these allegations because Republicans don't have the evidence right now. But they see an opening because this prosecutor is still investigating Hunter Biden. The politics of this are tricky because I think especially when it comes to allegations around Hunter Biden and what President Biden may or may not have done, obviously Republicans don't have any kind of smoking gun against the president right now. They're having these hearings. But also for the audience of a Republican electorate, this is a point of huge fascination and interest and a big base issue. But I am skeptical about how much it is resonating with the public. And I say that because there have already been two elections in 2020 and 2022 in which Republicans have gone after the president about his son. This was a feature in the 2020 election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, in which he accused the president of any kind of corruption or wrongdoing about his son. And voters don't seem to be making the same connection to Joe Biden as Republicans keep trying to make. Now, they're going to try to litigate it again in the 2024 election, but there hasn't been

a huge amount of evidence in these elections so far that there is a big amount of traction with this with the broader electorate. I would also say this politically. As we sit here, we are awaiting news of a potential another indictment of former President Trump. House Republicans are still very much united behind the former president, as is Speaker McCarthy. And there is a political interest and motivation here to muddy the political waters. They provide political and rhetorical backup for their party and can use their power to do that. And having hearings, flirting with impeachment, creating an alternative narrative in which suggests the president is also guilty of any number of forms of corruption helps the former president in his battle for the nomination. All right. Well, let's take a quick break and we'll be back in a moment. And we're back. And Georgia, I want to ask you about these reports of an impeachment investigation into President Biden. This week, Speaker McCarthy raised the possibility that House Republicans

might do that. What do they want to specifically look into? I mean, the speaker won't answer questions about what specific charges or evidence he sees as rising to the level of an impeachment inquiry. He basically just says all these allegations that are out there. We heard from two whistleblowers last week on Capitol Hill who test, they were involved in the investigation into Hunter Biden's tax returns. He was expected to plead guilty on two misdemeanor tax violations. These whistleblowers said there was evidence for felony tax violations for much more serious charges and that the whole investigation was slow walked

and he was given preferential treatment. David Weiss, the prosecutor, has refuted that there was any interference in his investigation and he's agreed to come talk to the House Judiciary Committee in the coming weeks. But McCarthy points to those charges and also these allegations that somehow there's a link between Hunter Biden's business dealings and payments from foreign entities and the president. He doesn't have any evidence, but he just says it's our duty to look into these investigations. But I would note that McCarthy is really trying to have it both ways. He's saying, I'm not saying we're doing impeachment. I'm just saying we're thinking about an impeachment inquiry. You know, I'm not going to play politics with impeachment like the Democrats did with the two

previous impeachments of President Trump. I'm going to go through regular order. We're going to build a case. But at the same time, by raising this issue, he is playing politics with this issue. And it's deliberate. The speaker has just a four vote majority, and he has to deal with pressure from the right, pressure from the Republican base, and pressure from the former president himself, who's out there saying, why are you guys impeaching President Biden? And also deal with the vulnerable House Republicans who represent districts where voters are more interested in the economy and pocketbook issues than going after, you know, allegations about President Biden. It's a four-seat majority, and there are 18 House Republicans who represent districts

that Joe Biden won in 2020. So forcing an impeachment inquiry into the House is tricky politics. Also, there's other impeachments that House Republicans have to balance here. The speaker has indicated that the House could move forward with an impeachment proceeding toward Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas. There is talk that they could try to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland. Republicans also have to sort of weigh the pros and cons of both the merits of these impeachments, how they could be received by the country, and can you overplay your hand? Impeachment is still a pretty big deal. And does it get muddied to the public?

Does it look too political if you're just impeaching everybody? If you're impeaching the entire cabinet, I think it loses its degree of credibility. One person I talked to who has a very big interest in this is Congressman Richard Hudson, who runs the House Republicans campaign arm. And he was like, we're not talking about impeachment. No one's seriously talking about impeachment. I'm a member of leadership. And what we're talking about is just looking at the facts, trying to get the administration to respond to our requests for documents and testimony. He's out there trying to message that this is just another oversight investigation, because a lot of the members that Sue talked about want to be focused on the other things that Congress is doing. All right, well, let's leave it there for today. I'm Asma Khalid. I cover the White House.

I'm Susan Davis. I cover politics. And I'm Deirdre Walsh. I cover Congress. And thank you all, as always, for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.