The Justice Department finally gave up pretending to investigate Hunter Biden and preemptively offered him blanket immunity for years of possible criminal activity. Why waste time, right?
It is increasingly evident the extraordinary plea agreement that fell apart was set in place to ensure the president’s name wouldn’t be dragged into any investigation.
US District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, as it happens, is not part of Team Biden. And in a Delaware courthouse Wednesday, the flabbergasted judge blew up the sweetheart deal that turned out to be considerably more corrupt than anyone imagined.
Federal prosecutors were prepared to let Hunter plead out to two of the least consequential charges — with virtually no punishment — in exchange for blanket immunity for a slew of serious potential offenses, including tax, gun and drug crimes, a failure to register as a foreign agent and who knows what else.
All this, even though Hunter is still purportedly under investigation.
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The government didn’t release the text of the plea agreement — it usually does — but a leaked copy shows that the wide-ranging, intentionally vague promise of immunity for crimes committed from 2014 to 2019 was curiously buried on paragraph 15 of the Pre-Trial Diversion Agreement.
On numerous occasions during the hearing, Noreika asked the government prosecutors if they knew of any precedent for a plea deal that offered immunity for “crimes in a different case.” Every time, the answer was no. In one instance, a federal lawyer admitted Hunter’s immunity was “crafted to suit the facts and circumstances.”
Indeed, the “circumstances” are that every aspect of a genuine investigation into Hunter Biden would, sooner or later, lead to Joe.
Follow The Post’s latest coverage on Hunter Biden’s plea deal
How could the FBI properly scrutinize Hunter’s tax evasion and influence peddling without talking to the president? Hunter’s laptop was teeming with texts and emails in which the son referenced his dad’s role in securing payments and taking a cut. In one email, a Burisma exec thanks Hunter for setting up a meeting with his dad.
These are private correspondences that Hunter and others never thought would be made public. Why would anyone lie in them?
Hunter’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski also contends Joe was involved in the family business. He’s said he’s willing to say so under oath. The same goes for Hunter’s close friend Devon Archer, who is reportedly going to testify that the president made at least 24 calls for the Biden family business.
A trusted FBI informant contends Biden was pressuring — “bribing” — foreign companies to send millions to the family business. The man says he has recordings of Joe. That seems important.
Two IRS whistleblowers in charge of investigating Hunter’s tax case also testified under oath not only that Joe Biden was present at least one business meeting but that the Justice Department wouldn’t let the agency investigate. They were “handcuffed,” “hamstrung,” “marginalized” and ultimately stopped. Why should anyone believe other aspects of the Biden investigation would be conducted any less corruptly?
Of course, everyone knows that no Biden Inc. works without Joe. Which is why any trial for Hunter would be devastating. At some point, the White House would be compelled to finally explain numerous links Joe had to his family’s $17 million influence-peddling scheme.
Which is why one suspects Hunter’s lawyers and prosecutors will craft a more palatable plea agreement for the judge. The process is going to walk slower than Joe Biden going up a flight of stairs.
They are on the same side, after all. The feds haven’t even bothered to indict Hunter yet. Why would they? The only way to protect Hunter from being investigated in the future is to give him a free pass. It’s not as if Attorney General Merrick Garland would ever put the president in jeopardy.
But it’s also worth remembering that all the attention to Hunter’s debauchery can sometimes distract from real reason the president’s privileged son is being given a free ride. It’s all about protecting the Big Guy.