Conservative commentator and former top Department of Justice official Mark Levin argued Thursday that a leak about Hunter Biden possibly facing criminal charges raises red flags concerning the DOJ prosecuting former President Donald Trump.
The Washington Post reported Thursday, based on unnamed sources, that federal prosecutors have “sufficient evidence to charge” President Joe Biden’s son “with tax crimes and a false statement related to a gun purchase.”
The investigation into Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings began in 2018.
When his father assumed the presidency in January 2021, the new attorney general, Merrick Garland, left U.S. attorney David C. Weiss in place to continue overseeing the Hunter criminal probe.
“The question is why would they put it out now?” Levin asked while appearing on the Fox News program “Hannity” Thursday night, noting the leak comes weeks before the midterm elections when Republicans might retake one or both chambers of Congress.
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“My theory is this is old news,” Levin continued. “They could have indicted Hunter a long time ago. They’re protecting Joe, of course, because they’re not getting into any of the [Tony] Bobulinski laptop information, which is ripe for the taking.”
Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden’s, came forward in October 2020 to corroborate information contained on a laptop that reportedly had belonged to Hunter suggesting that Joe Biden was involved in his son’s overseas business dealings with Chinese entities, the New York Post reported.
“Joe Biden is a Manchurian, putative president. In my view, he’s bought and paid for not just by the communist [Chinese] regime, but others,” Levin said.
Hunter Biden, his father and his uncle, Jim Biden, were to be part of a proposed venture capital deal in 2017 with Chinese energy firm CEFC, according to Bobulinski, the New York Post reported. Hunter went on to do a separate deal without Bobulinski, he said.
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CEFC has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and its executives ultimately paid $4.8 million to entities controlled by Hunter and Jim Biden, according to The Washington Post.
Levin — who served as chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese during the Reagan administration — posited that the reason the more serious crimes are not being pursued against Hunter or Joe Biden is to set the stage to target Trump.
He pointed out that the Post’s article about Hunter Biden’s alleged tax and gun purchase crimes mentioned that the DOJ is criminally investigating Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified material and his actions related to questioning the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.
Levin said of the DOJ, “I think what they’re trying to do is lay a predicate, lay a foundation … for the American people and particularly conservatives who go on, ‘Well, why don’t they indict him? Why don’t they indict Hunter? It’s black and white. They’ve got the goods on him.’”
“Then we have Merrick Garland say, ‘You see, I believe in equality under the law. So we did XYZ to Hunter Biden and now we’re doing XYZ to Donald Trump,’” he said.
“I think this is a complete setup,” he concluded. “I think Hunter Biden is small potatoes. I think they’re protecting Joe Biden, who obviously is more important. He’s the president of the United States, and they have absolutely no interest in him. And by the way, neither do the media.”
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George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley also believes the DOJ may be playing small ball by going after Hunter Biden for tax and gun purchase crimes. He said one very likely outcome could be federal prosecutors reaching a plea deal giving the president’s son a pass on more serious crimes.
“Many people are concerned as to whether the full scope of potential criminal conduct is going to be included in this type of indictment,” Turley said Friday on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”
“The concern that I have is that one of the crimes that has not been raised is a [Foreign Agents Registration Act] violation. That deals with the registration of foreign agents,” he continued.
“With people like Paul Manafort, the Justice Department went aggressively to prosecute those people who are not registered as foreign agents. Hunter Biden seems to meet that Paul Manafort standard,” Turley said, referring to a former Trump campaign chairman.
(1/2) FEDS CLOSING IN ON HUNTER BIDEN:
“The concern that I have is that one of the crimes that has not been raised is a FARA violation. That deals with the registration of foreign agents. With people like Paul Manafort, the Justice Department…” @JonathanTurley pic.twitter.com/94C6wxz7tw
— America’s Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) October 7, 2022
Turley concluded: “If that’s not included, it’s going to raise a lot of questions because by not including it, you don’t have to ask embarrassing questions about influence peddling that may have generated millions for the Biden family.”
Text messages reportedly retrieved from Hunter Biden’s laptop indicate that Joe Biden financially benefitted from his son’s business dealings, including while the elder Biden was serving as vice president.
