CNN
—
House and Senate Republicans have been quick to criticize the deal between the Justice Department and Hunter Biden, arguing Tuesday that the charges filed against President Joe Biden’s son exemplify what they describe as the weaponization of the DOJ.
The reaction underscores how the charges brought by the DOJ as a result of a five-year investigation led by a Donald Trump appointee will not deter Republicans on Capitol Hill, particularly Republican lawmakers who control the House and, by extension, committees, to pursue his own account. investigate the Biden family.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy dismissed the US attorney as a Trump holdover when asked by CNN’s Manu Raju.
“You think it’s equal and fair that a political opponent should be jailed, but a presidential son, and if you compare that to other individuals in the United States who have the same charges against them, the same crimes they’ve been guilty of. , that they were proposed to have 10 years and other time periods — I think that’s a difference in justice,” McCarthy said.
The argument that the Justice Department has been politicized against conservatives has been central to how House Republicans approach their investigations in Congress, how they frame their defense of Trump and how they rationalize the funding cuts they want to make to the DOJ and specifically the FBI everywhere. the board through the House allocation process.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer criticized the Justice Department for giving Hunter Biden only a “slap on the wrist,” saying he received a “sweet plea deal.”
Comer, a Kentucky Republican who has made Hunter Biden a member of his committee, said the charges will have no impact on his investigation, which has focused on the Biden family’s foreign business dealings. While House Republicans have used their subpoena power to try to uncover a money trail, they have yet to establish a direct link to President Biden.
“We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes is revealed,” Comer said in a statement Tuesday.
Similarly, McCarthy said Tuesday’s news should help his investigation.
“It should actually improve our investigation because the DOJ shouldn’t be able to withhold any information now, saying that because of a pending investigation, they should be able to provide President Comer with whatever information he needs,” the Republican said. California
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, who has made the alleged politicization of the DOJ central to his work as committee chairman, tweeted that the news exemplified a “double standard of justice.” in light of the charges filed against Hunter Biden.
House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, who sits on the so-called weapons subcommittee led by Jordan, was the first member of the House GOP leadership to speak.
“This is the epitome of the politicization and weaponization of Joe Biden’s Justice Department as they slap the wrist of President Biden’s son: a tax fraud and a corrupt pay-to-play criminal,” Stefanik, a Republican from New York. he said in a statement delivered to CNN. “House Republicans will not rest until the total illegal corruption of the Biden crime family is exposed.”
Republican senators, including Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, echoed that the charges against Hunter Biden by the DOJ reflect a “sweetheart deal.”
Sen. JD Vance of Ohio called Hunter Biden’s deal “exhibit 1,042 why I have Biden’s DOJ nominees.” Last week, Vance promised to keep all judicial nominees on hold “indefinitely” until Attorney General Merrick Garland commits to a new policy on “prosecutions” and “politically motivated laws.”
The argument that the DOJ is politicized resurfaced Tuesday among the right wing of the House GOP, with some saying U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the Trump appointee who brought the charges, ignoring the evidence while not knowing any details of how Weiss carried out her charge. five year research.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called the DOJ “pathetic and weaponized.”
Rep. Bob Good of Virginia called Garland “engaged and politicized” and claimed the Justice Department had “no interest” in investigating the Biden family’s dealings.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California called the deal “just the first crack in the cover-up of Biden’s corruption.”
And Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona claimed the announcement of charges against Hunter Biden were to “distract” from special counsel John Durham’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee later Tuesday about his report on the fbi Biggs vowed that House Republicans would continue to investigate the Biden family.
“Make no mistake, Hunter Biden’s plea deal today will not stop the @JudiciaryGOP & @GOPoversight investigations into him & the rest of the Biden family,” he tweeted. “They are not above the law.”
