New York Post, August 17, 2023

Hunter Biden loses chance to give courthouse speech — and the special counsel loses more credibility

by James Bovard

Breaking News: Hunter Biden was robbed of the chance to win the Emmy Award for Best Tear-Jerking Performance on Courthouse Steps by a Media Darling.

The Washington Post revealed Thursday that Hunter had written “a statement about his desire to close a difficult chapter in his life, and was planning to read it to news cameras outside the courthouse after entering his plea” July 26 at the federal courthouse in Delaware.

His cameo was canceled after his plea bargain on tax and gun crimes collapsed thanks to federal judge Maryellen Noreika challenging the blanket exoneration for Hunter that prosecutors tried to sneak past her.

Instead of speaking to reporters, Hunter left the courtroom looking as if the hounds of hell might be catching up with him.

Unfortunately, The Washington Post did not reveal the speech Hunter planned to deliver.

Would Hunter have wafted Shakespearean, invoking “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”? Would he have sounded presidential, perhaps echoing Richard Nixon’s signature line: “I am not a crook!” Would Hunter’s performance have matched the dramatic brilliance of Washington Mayor Marion Barry’s epitaph: “The bitch set me up!”

Was the White House revved to orchestrate a tsunami of bathos reports in the media after Hunter’s “Mea culpa except I didn’t break any laws” speech, followed by President Joe Biden repeating again his proclamation that his son “did nothing wrong”?

We won’t find out unless and until Attorney General Merrick Garland pulls another whitewash out of his hat.

Last week, to “close a difficult chapter” in Joe Biden’s life, Garland appointed Justice Department lawyer David Weiss special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden’s offenses. Weiss qualified for that lofty title by failing to prosecute Hunter for the previous five years of his investigation, clinching his appointment with that sweetheart plea deal.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) groused, “Special counsels are supposed to be independent. Weiss is probably the least independent person that Merrick Garland could have appointed.” Weiss’ appointment will thwart congressional investigations into Justice Department shenanigans.

Democrats are so desperate to vindicate Biden, they now pretend government documents are handed down from Mount Sinai. A Washington Post editorial vindicated the special-counsel appointment because Weiss will be “required to produce a report, almost certain to be made public, on his investigation. . . . The fact that he has to write one will also give him a greater incentive to proceed by the book.” Does the Post believe political appointees are hooked up to IVs and injected with truth serum while writing such reports? To absolve Biden, the paper expunges all the federal coverups since the Teapot Dome scandal.

But Thursday’s story reveals new perils for Weiss. The mutiny of IRS investigators who examined the millions of dollars of foreign kickbacks Hunter pocketed was already known. After two IRS officials formally became whistleblowers, the Justice Department dismissed the entire IRS team from the Hunter investigation, effectively crippling the ability to pursue Hunter’s million-dollar+ tax violations.

Now we know that for many months, FBI investigators have also “been frustrated with Weiss’s handling of the case, believing it should have been investigated and prosecuted more aggressively.”  So Weiss lost the trust of both the IRS and FBI agents on the never-ending case?  Did Weiss sweep far more Biden dirt under the rug than we yet know?

A single “dime” could obliterate the tattered remnants of the special counsel’s credibility. On Monday, the House Oversight Committee released a transcript from an interview with an unnamed FBI agent who complained political appointees had sabotaged attempts to interview Hunter Biden.

Other FBI agents have already exposed Biden administration lies on its domestic-terrorism vendetta.  Will more FBI agents echo the courage of FBI Special Agent Garret O’Boyle, who testified to Congress in May, “I never swore an oath to the FBI. I swore my oath to the Constitution”?

Weiss’ credibility is also corroding by the continuing bickering with Hunter Biden’s lawyers, who claim the feds double-crossed their client. In a court filing this week, Weiss did not deny the claim by Hunter’s lawyers that “the Government drafted much of the proposed agreements” that blew up in Judge Noreika’s courtroom. Hunter’s lawyers claim the gun charge must be dropped because Hunter agreed to enter a diversion program in lieu of serving hard time. Every additional story that reminds people Weiss previously sought to absolve Hunter decimates confidence in Weiss’ honesty as a special counsel.

Attorney General Garland is also making Weiss a laughingstock by effectively blocking him from investigating the tens of millions of dollars in foreign payoffs Biden family members and cohorts received. The special counsel’s investigation is on par with dragging out a shoplifting investigation while ignoring the culprit’s role in a string of armored-truck robberies.

But as long as Garland is covering his back, President Biden can continue scoffing at reporters who ask about kickback allegations: “Where’s the money?”

Depending on how many scandals are unearthed by congressional and other investigations, that rhetorical question could become the 46th president’s version of “I am not a crook.”

James Bovard is the author of 10 books and a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors.