Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) said Thursday that Hunter Biden reaching a deal to plead guilty to federal tax and gun charges could hurt President Joe Biden’s 2024 general election chances.
The Justice Department wrote in a court filing Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s son had agreed to plead guilty to two counts of “willful failure to pay” his federal income taxes and would enter a “pretrial diversion agreement” concerning possession of a firearm “by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.”
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Asked by reporters outside the Senate chamber if the deal could be a liability for the president in next year’s general election, Tester replied, “I don’t know. I mean, I think anything could be made into a liability in elections. Look, to be honest with you, I don’t think it helps him.”
U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware brought the limited charges amid whistleblower allegations that the Justice Department investigation was politicized and as the president insists his son has done nothing wrong. Weiss’s office put out a press release on Tuesday, noting that Hunter Biden had been hit with “two misdemeanor tax offenses and a felony firearm offense.” The Delaware federal prosecutor said that “the investigation is ongoing.”
Republicans have long contended the younger Biden’s lucrative business dealings in Ukraine and China indicate he may have committed crimes related to foreign lobbying or money laundering, but they say the new charges fall far short of that.
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Joe Biden has denied any wrongdoing and contends he has never been involved in any of his son’s ventures. White House Counsel’s Office spokesman Ian Sams told reporters Tuesday that the president and first lady Jill Biden “love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment.”
Jerry Dunleavy contributed to this report.
