it's a significant legal victory by hunter biden and his lawyers. other way to look at it is president biden said my son did nothing wrong, and he's admitting he did something wrong and failed to pay his taxes intentionally, and those are crimes. >> to a former prosecutor, can you help break down this agreement? >> yes, so based on the filing that we saw today, it appears they reached a resolution in which the prosecution will charge hunter biden with two tax counts, and they are misdemeanors. for the separate gun issue, there will be a pretrial diversion which eventually says you will not be charged with a crime for now or we will hold this charge in abans, and as long as you comply with certain conditions we will dismiss these charges ultimately. my takeaway from this is that we have a trump-appointed u.s. attorney who investigated this case and resolved it in terms they believe is favorable to the government. it's an admission of guilt by hunter biden, and he will have to go into court and put on the record the reasons he thinks he's guilty of the

they are really weighing into the investigation of hunter biden over last two year of biden's presidency trying to maintain some independence and distance from it, but the officials from the white house, and the president's personal attorney have kept tabs on this case as it has been ongoing, and one thing that the biden family has had to navigate over the past few years is the repeated republican attacks from including former president donald trump, and this was a focal point for them in the 2016 presidential campaign, but for now, the bidens are sticking by the line of support for their son as the legal matters have been playing out. >> arlette, thank you for bringing us this. >> as we said, it has been a five-year investigation by a trump-appointed attorney, a holdover from the last presidential administration. and so, going back and fort, what are you learning about this investigation? >> we are learning that negotiations have intensified, and as you noted, this is a year's long investigation, but in recent months this whole issue has heated up once again as cnn reported last summer

quick break, and and then hunter biden agrees to the a plea deal with his father's justice departmentay before new damning evidence is exposed showing biden family influence peddling that the fbi and doj completely ignored. congressman jim jordan is here on the politicization within the fbi and doj with stunning whistleblower testimony. that's right next here. ♪ ♪ e to keep up with their finances. smart bankers. convenient tools. boom. one bank with the power of both. chase. make more of what's yours. oh booking.com, ♪ i'm going to somewhere, anywhere. ♪ ♪ a beach house, a treehouse, ♪ ♪ honestly i don't care ♪ find the perfect vacation rental for you booking.com, booking. yeah. bass pro shops and cabela's stands tall in our unwavering commitment to honoring our heroes. we extend our gratitude ...beyond words... by proudly offering a legendary salute discount to those who protect our freedoms. our dedication to those who selflessly serve us runs deep within our dna. it's not just a discount... it's a commitment to making a difference. because every day is a chance for us to say thank

now, of course, hunter biden is not the one running for office. his father is. e are still pretty, pretty extensive efforts by republican on capitol hill and on the campaign trail to try to tie joe biden to his son, hunter, through the business deals. but because they aren't in here, that doesn't mean it's going to go away. i'd anticipate that the republican candidates are going to continue to make hunter biden a centerpiece of the argument against joe biden. and keep in mind, joe biden also has some some lower tier democratic challengers, primary challengers, some of whom have at least hinted around the edges around hunter biden. i'm interested to see if any of them pick that up when so many democrats are rallying behind the president. this has always been something of a political liability for president biden. john, how big of a challenge is this for president biden now? well, it's an enormous challenge given the trump cases, because you have these highly consequential prosecutions of donald trump, an indictment in the in the documents case and a continued inve

slap on the wrist, and he says that this is, and the key comment is this "these charges against hunter biden and sweetheart deal have no impact on the committee's investigation." he says they will not rest until the plot of the biden family schemes have been investigated. and the question is going to be how much of this was actually subjected to the investigation of this u.s. attorney and why this u.s. attorney did not go down this route or pursue any charges on this. that is going to be one question that the republicans will try to answer in the months ahead here. the white house has dismissed these efforts by the house oversight committee as simply conspiracy theories and trying to link president biden to something that is not, there and the republicans of course have an opposite view of all of this in trying to tie hunter biden directly to the white house, and that the focus and the challenge for the house republicans in the months ahead and whether they have actually evidence to tie the president to any hunter biden actions and the question is why the u.s. attorney in this case did not g

hunter biden's lawyer also acknowledged that in a statement that hunter biden believes it is important for him to take responsibility as he continues to work through recovery, which people who understand addiction as a disease knows that -- knows that is a long-term lifetime situation. and so from the white house, what has made this politically so difficult is for all the obvious reasons the president himself is being investigated by a special counsel for the documents matter involving records from his vice presidential years that were discovered, there has been this five-year investigation of his son. and, of course, we're in a political season. so we know that republicans, those on capitol hill, who have some authority through oversight, to investigate, are certainly talking about issues related to hunter biden and in the larger political realm hunter biden has been one of those volatile figures that is used against the president, against the administration, and as a very motivating force in politics. so that makes this a very complicated situation when you're talking about a son, a

hunter biden. unprecedentsed. the first in history for a criminal charge to be made against a president's son while he is in office. so we have soave some -- some -- >> biden will admit to illegally possessing that gun after his purchase five years ago in 2018. as part of the admission, he will enter a diversion program that we were just referring to, which is a lesser sentence that typically applies to people who have a substance issue. at the time he put in his application he had a substance abuse problem that he lied about on the application and able to get the gun. prosecutors would then recommend two years of probation and diversion conditions. now, if he meets the conditions of the program, the diversion program, the gun charge is removed from his record. it is expunged after 24 months and does not appear as some sort of federal charge or felony charge. >> dana: further to your point this is one of the reasons people do decide to make a plea deal to try to get this behind them. hunter biden is 53 years old.

hunter biden.ich is not part of this, and all of the accusations that they have made, vis-a-vis, ukraine, and the now president/then vice president and hunter biden, again, i think it's important to underscore, none of that is in this plea deal. it doesn't mean that it's not going to be part of the congressional investigations. as we've heard from our colleagues and just know from our own reporting ing and havin eyes and ears being journalists, not going to go away from the republican house of representatives. having said that, i do think it's important to take a stem back for a second and note that we do have the son of a sitting president pleading guilty to federal charges. they seem to be in the grand scheme of things relatively minor charges. and it does -- i'm sure, we will see and hear from hunter biden. when we do he will talk about the fact that this was caught up in his addiction. and that is part of why, maybe, he's going to say, that is the reason why he decided to plead guilty to this.

they're not bringing any criminal charges linked to hunter biden's business dealings but perspective n is a devoted father who has stood by his son through struggles with addiction. he is not distancing himself from hunter but he is distancing himself from this investigation. carl: i thought if i happened written a movie script that had that state dinner with the president, the president's son, the two howls republican leaders who are pursuing him and the president and the attorney general, who is trying to avoid the whole mess all at the same dinner somebody would say that could never happen. [laughter] but the republicans, no matter what hunter biden agreed to and admitted to, the republicans were always going to say that this is a two-tiered justice system, that trump is being treated differently than hunter biden and with these whistleblowers now, they finally made a little headway. this is really the first time they've seemed so have some credible -- william: these are two whistleblowers who have come forward and said the investigation was delayed, they gave biden's lawyers heads

did hunter biden lie about the gun? >> he pleaded guilty to the situation -- that situation. >> well, there's no. there's no time for him to serve. no prison time. but they're trying to put president trump in prison. >> they're different cases, different facts. >> but equal justice here. that's the problem most americans have. >> speaker mccarthy said he believes the result of the plea deal will enhance the house gop investigation into hunter biden and joe biden trying to link the two and business deals overseas with the white house and joe biden's actions as vice president. the question is what will happen if the justice department does not provide the records, comer indicating to me moments ago he has not made a decision whether to subpoena for those records but they plan to call for that u.s. attorney to come testify before the house dme. >> the u.s. attorney appointed by donald trump and joe biden kept him in office. i saw speaker mccarthy department address for that of the your question. it's emblematic of how pres

today, an attorney for hunter biden, christopher clark, spoke to msnbc. how does hunter biden feel?ppy to move on with his life and his recovery and keep doing i mean, the one thing nobody talks about is how long hunter has been sober and moving forward with his life being a good person, his lawyers would say this is it. this is the end. it's all behind him. but the congressional republicans are making it clear that they don't view it that way. and joining me now, former trump administration justice department official sarah isgur. you know, sarah, some republicans are calling this plea a sweetheart deal. what's your take? well, at the top level, what republicans are arguing is that you have donald trump facing 37 felony charges, that all carry jail time compared to hunter biden, who will now have no jail time. hunter biden was negotiating with the department of justice. donald trump has shown no interest in meeting with the department of justice to talk to them about a potential plea negotiation or deal. and the other part of the hunter biden news that we learned today is tax evasi

hunter biden's attorney said to their knowledge, this investigation is closed. i know hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. he looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward. now, how much of that will take place, given there's going to be a lot of attention from republicans who are focusing on this investigation, not only saying that they're going to continue to look into the biden family finances, but also exploring, or hoping to get some more information about the department of justice investigation, that led to the guilty plea. finally, that we saw today. and then the next thing here, a judge will be assigned to the case. hunter biden will come into the court behind me and allocate the charges saying he's pleading guilty to them and saying to judge what crimes he's committed. brianna. >> we'll be looking for that kara scannell, thank you. let's talk to cnn analyst and epic czar norm eisen. norm, you've been hearing this, we've heard a lot of republicans tod

with the announcement of two agreements between my client, hunter biden, and the united states' attorneys office for the district of delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into hunter is resolved. now, president biden and the first lady released this statement via white house spokesperson. quote, the president and first ladylove their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. we will have no further comment. president biden also said he was very proud of his son when questioned by reporters during his visit to california yesterday. joining us now former u.s. attorney and msnbc contributor, our friend barbara mcquade. barbara, thank you again for joining us this morning. so let's start with this plea deal for hunter biden. what is your assessment? is this in line with normal parameters? if an average everyday person accused of doing the same thing getting this same kind of deal? >> no, actually. i think if an ordinary person had engaged in the conduct described in these documents they would get no charges at all. it's often difficult to assess exac

we learned this morning that hunter biden plans to plead guilty to tax crimes, not paying his taxes on time. we also learned the president's son struck a deal on a gun charge and prosecutors will ask mr. biden be put on probation. i want to go straight to delaware where this all went down. that's where cnn correspondent cara accidental is. is the case closed against hunter biden? >> well, dana, that's a great question. we see this has been a five-year long investigation and they have looked at so many different areas of hunter biden's business dealings. he was under investigation at one point for money laundering, potential foreign lobbying violations and he's agreed to plead guilty to the tax misdemeanors for failing to pay taxes in 2017 and 2018 about more than $100,000 for each of those years and striking a deal to divert from pleading guilty to a federal gun possession charge because he was an -- at the time he held the gun for about 11 days. hunter biden's attorneys issued a statement in which they said with the announcement of two agreements between my client hunter biden and the

quick break, and and then hunter biden agrees to the a plea deal with his father's justice departmentay before new damning evidence is exposed showing biden family influence peddling that the fbi and doj completely ignored. congressman jim jordan is here on the politicization within the fbi and doj with stunning whistleblower testimony. that's right next here. ♪ ♪ you got this. let's go. gobble gobble. i've seen bigger legs on a turkey! rude. who are you? i'm an investor in a fund that helps advance innovative sports tech like this smart fitness mirror. i'm also mr. leg day...1989! anyone can become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq, a fund that gives you access to nasdaq-100 innovations. i go through a lot of pants. before investing carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and more in prospectus at invesco.com. nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid before it begins. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium. - i want to enjoy my free time and not worry about expensive

has joe biden made the calculation? i will keep hunter front and center and the american people won't care. >> i guess you could say that joe biden has gotten away with it now for 50 years. look what happened earlier this week. hunter biden got a slap on the wrist. they let the most serious crimes lapse under the statute of limitations. they didn't even charge any crime related to corruption or bribery or foreign influence peddling. so joe biden thinks he has gotten away with it this far with the complicit medium. maybe he can continue to get away with it. >> good luck. 56% of the american people say we think hunter was involved in these business dealings. best of luck. senator cotton, thank you. tonight thank you, kayleigh. >>> they continue to deny there are two tiers tears in the justice system. >> they are bowing to get to the bottom of what they called biden's sweetheart deal and the alleged idea that there is a two tier justice system. >> they want to use this on a daily basis to make the point about their perceived grievance of a t

howard: the media have made hunter biden a symbol of biden family corruption. no question his muckraking in ukraine, china and perhaps if elsewhere is just an embarrassment and shameful. so, mary county run -- more -- mary katherine, were the pun pundits december sin thed to be -- destined to be disappointed? >> he's done nothing wrong, i've never talked to him about his business dealings, i have no idea about anything with china, it's going to turn out some of that is false which is a political liability for the president. and the press actually got a little energetic with him, or with karine jean-pierre in the press room the other day, and i wonder if some of that is sensing that vulnerability and we're making a turn. by the way, on the kodak black front, i've seen some fact checks that say, oh, this is completely different because he had other gun crimes and drug crimes in his past and, there are -- therefore, he got a hard harsher sentence. hunter's were not charged perhaps because there's a with to-tiered system in which he's treat differently. howard: i t

hunter biden is feeling great. take a look. >> how is hunter doing? >> the doj has been weaponize. they have made a mockery of our justice system and our constitutional order. a biden commits a crime, the democrats and doj buried the evidence. it is repulsive, disgusting, but of course the doj says they have done nothing wrong. quote, as both attorney general and u.s. attorney david weiss has said u.s. attorney weiss has full authority over the matter including responsibility for deciding where, when and whether to file charges as he deems appropriate. yet somehow weiss never filed felony tax charges against hunter or any of the other possible crimes detailed in hunter's laptop. after a long five year investigation into hunter biden, the feds come up with two misdemeanor tax charges for missing an irs deadline on just over $200,000 in taxes. on $3 million in income over two years and a gun charge that was deferred. that means hunter biden will not spend a day in jail. that means the big guy does not have a care in the world as long as merrick garland is the ag and christopher wray i

the reporter on this hunter biden story, joins us via zoom this morning. good morning to you. guest: good morning. host: when it comes to the tax charges wedded hunter died in here when it came -- hunter biden here when he came to -- when it came to the tax charges? guest: in 2017 and 2018 he has all of the taxes -- that are unpaid. you cannot not to pay your taxes. and hunter biden has maintained this since the beginning. he is pleading guilty on this now as you noted at the very top. we are going to have to see what actually happened in or it. and in 2018 hunter was in delaware -- and in 2018 hunter was in delaware and he was found to be on crack cocaine. so this crime carries maximum and multi-of 10 years in jail. and this shows that they basically decided to divert this prosecution. essentially if hunter biden -- what we have been told is there will be drug testing for a certain period of time. and extra probationary period. if he maintains that agreement for a certain period of time, it will be dismissed altogether. host: how unusual is this type of plea deal when it comes

recall being asked about it to be honest. >> republican city the laptop has tons of proof that hunter biden participated in corruption and there is financial proof that president biden and hunter biden were connected and the gains that were made overseas by hunter biden. have you ever seen any proof of that? >> i have not seen anybody make an actual persuasive case. you asked whether or not the laptop was part of the investigation. it has been out there. we don't have any proof of it that there was any kind of violation. >> excuse me. think about it. hunter's laptop has material evidence. prostitution, drug use, gun crimes, tax crimes, financial information about all of hunter's foreign lobbying. did he register under the fair act? i doubt it. and sketchy foreign business deals. how much money was a macon from china, russia, because extent and a dozen other countries? what about the profit sharing with the big guy or giving half of his income to pops meaning joe biden your president. and zero interest. the fbi has been in possession of that laptop since december 2019. according to john solo

board of a ukrainian energy company, while vice president biden was in charge of ukraine policy hunter biden was pressed in 2019 whether that company would have asked him to be on its board if his last name was not biden. >> i don't know, probably not i don't think there's a lot of things that would have happened my life if my last name wasn't biden >> reporter: and tonight house republicans are vowing today's plea deal will not impact their ongoing investigation into biden family finances >> this is an investigation whether or not joe biden is compromised because of the millions of dollars that his family has received from foreign n nationals. >> reporter: president biden has repeatedly defended his son >> first of all, my son has done nothing wrong. >> reporter: tonight this reaction after hunter biden's agreement to plead guilty >> i'm very proud of my son >> so peter, how might this have an impact on the 2024 campaign? >> reporter: lester, it removes the possibility of a trial, which would have been a huge headache for president biden in the middle of a campaign still, for republicans as

hunter biden admits that. o through the emails and the text exchanges on his laptop, there is even mountains of more evidence showing how much to the degree to which joe biden was benefiting financially from this arrangement. so to say that there is no evidence is absurd. there is mountains of evidence. and you have to willfully be trying to not get to the bottom of this, to ignore all of this evidence. >> harris: we have to scoot out of here. i will say this. democrats get a little bit of a victory if they continue that investigation into hunter at the d.o.j. even after he pleaded guilty to things because it locks down as leo terrell taught us this hour. "outnumbered" is next. we know patients are more than their disease. that's why, at novo nordisk, we've spent a hundred years developing treatments to help unlock humanity's full potential. these are the greats: people living with, thriving with — not held back by — disease. they motivate us to fight diabetes and obesity, rare diseases and cardiovascular condi

y night, bothsda hunter biden is attorney generab merricidenk garland attended a e house steak dinnernister mohdi andha shmoozed with other high level guests on the week that hunter is pleading guilty., brinleg in congressman jim jord. mr. chairman, thank you forco joining us this morning.ks >> goo vd to with you. maria: interesting to see this picture of hunter at the white house the week he's supposed to be pleading guilty and gets aac misdemeanor charge and no efforu to look at the actual income and where it came from.e bi>> right. i think the big take away from last week is nothing has change the at the justice department. john durham told us how it was and all a lie and told us about hay got a credible intelligences saying this whole thing, trump/russia narrative from the lintin come tian a and intelligence is credible enoughe he e briefed the president, vies president, attorney general,th director of the fbi put it is in a memo and jim comey doesn't share that with the agents doinh the case. now we get to this situation and we have a whistle blower comewh forward and says they w

there is little doubt that hunter biden engaged in tax evasion and filing false returns. rts he ran into, efforts to keep this investigation away from joe biden. he described an assistant u.s. attorney telling him not to ask about any references to dad or the big guy, that you saw and hunter biden's communications. the whole idea, at the end of the trump administration, and when the biden administration was in office, the idea was to keep this away from joe biden and that is the focus of the oversight committee and the ways and means committee. >> it is getting more attention. there are more questions, including one as president biden is heading out to the south lawn today. >> how involved were you in your son's text message? were you involved? >> no. >> it is tough to believe he never talked to his son about his foreign businesses, let alone take away that he was sitting next to hunter biden in that message. >> he has said, going back to the campaign, that he had never had any discussions with his son about his business dealings and that has been incredible in light of th

it's not just hunter biden on that.out james the president's brother. when you talk about the president himself. these are the types of things that the american people want accountability on. not a two tiered justice system where if your last name is biden or obama or bush or clinton, you are released on it but, if you are trump, you are actually, you know, incriminated, guilty until proven innocent. so we want to get back to the rule of law and actually holding people to the same standards. >> todd: along those lines, you are a fellow colleague luna anna pa lawn knee moving to censors adam schiff. >> censors adam schiff of california where the allegation donald trump colluded with russia in-to-interfere in the 2016 election has been revealed as false by numerous in-depth investigations including the recent report by special counsel john durham. >> todd: look, republicans couldn't get their whole group to get together when there was a $16 million fine attached to this. will productions pass the censor this time? >> well

the reporter on this hunter biden story, joins us via zoom this morning. good morning to you. est: good morning. host: when it comes to the tax charges wedded hunter died in here when it came -- hunter biden here when he came to -- when it came to the tax charges? guest: in 2017 and 2018 he has all of the taxes -- that are unpaid. you cannot not to pay your taxes. and hunter biden has maintained this since the beginning. he is pleading guilty on this now as you noted at the very top. we are going to have to see what actually happened in or it. and in 2018 hunter was in delaware -- and in 2018 hunter was in delaware and he was found to be on crack cocaine. so this crime carries maximum and multi-of 10 years in jail. and this shows that they basically decided to divert this prosecution. essentially if hunter biden -- what we have been told is there will be drug testing for a certain period of time. and extra probationary period. if he maintains that agreement for a certain period of time, it will be dismissed altogether. host: how unusual is this type of plea deal when it comes t

congress republicans, they are investigating the hunter biden -- hunter biden's family, and james comerairman of the oversight committee says he's got information showing millions of dollars of payment to the biden family and something that he's going to continue investigating on the hill. back to you. >> sandra: rich, thank you. >> john: miranda devine, "new york post" columnist and fox news contributor. it's worth, miranda, starting off by repeating what rich said just then, competing statements from chris clark, hunter biden's attorney and the doj, saying with the announcement of two agreements between my client, hunter biden and the united states attorney's office for the district of delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into hunter is resolved. however, look at what the doj said in its statement, it had the very start words saying the investigation is ongoing. so, looks like hunter biden's team is saying ok, that's it, we pled guilty an agreement on the gun charge, move on. but the real story is different than that. >> well, look, i think hunter biden's

fox news alert, hunter biden is set to give a deposition today in a defamation lawsuit brought by the owner of that delaware repair shot, where hunter reportedly left the laptop from hell. >> brian: the irs whistleblower makes stunning claims. >> ainsley: mark meridith live from the white house. mark. >> a lot to get to this morning. the whistleblower is raising a bunch of claims about how this investigation into the first son played out, likely lawmakers will pay close takening to what he had to say. he spoke to fox news and said he is coming forward not out of political malice. >> simply the facts are the facts and in my past, i've vote for both d's and r's and politics are irrelevant when contacting my job. >> gary shapley says timing matters a lot. tax fraud investigation dated back to 10 years. back to when vice president joe biden was in office. it is unlikely the irs will get back what it is actually due. >> to this day, there's still around $400,000 of unreported income from burisma in 2014. he was told to amend his return and he never did. declining those charges, david weiss

so why were they giving hunter biden and the biden family millions of dollars?viously paid for connections. we in congress are strictly held to account on this. we have to disclose every year any connections we have with any businesses, any investments, any monetary reimbursement. we definitely have to know what our family is doing. this is no excuse. i hope this goes all the way. we need accountability. we need to know that everybody's treated equally in the united states. we've seen it in the past, we've seen how three letter organizations have gotten aware with murder. the doj is obviously corrupt and biased right now. we've seen how we've weaponized the fbi and irs against our civilians and against our former president. we want to see a little bit of justice. maria: i spoke with two members of the oversight committee yesterday, byron donalds and nancy mace, who talked about the idea of impeachment articles. they want to get all the evidence ready but it looks like, look, if all of this is true, this is obviously an impeachable offense. house judiciary commit

in comparison, hunter biden's charges appear to be rather less significant to say the very least. do have a big part of the story, hunter biden's struggles with addiction, so i think that is something the american people can understand. we will see, but so far, it seems like it is not drastically impairing biden's standing. just briefly, former president _ biden's standing. just briefly, former president trump's - biden's standing. just briefly, | former president trump's trial biden's standing. just briefly, - former president trump's trial date is actually scheduled to be not too far away from when the first republican debate would be, should he be the successful candidate. that's right. right now, we're looking at an august trial date, although we can expect former president trump's team to try to push that back a bit. we already expect his legal team to introduce a motion to dismiss the trial in entirety. that will almost certainly be unsuccessful because of the substantial weight of the evidence that the prosecutors have presented. the trials is affected in august —— expected,

no one knew about the hunter biden laptop story. that is how they helped propel joe biden to the presidency. to the point that are remade, i want to read this nauseating opening from peter baker in the new york times. no subject may be more personally painful nor politically problematic for president biden than his troubled son. he is by all accounts a gaping wound in his heart and the most sensitive soft spot in his campaign armor. stephen, that is exactly how they cover a story affecting a front runner republican, right? very sympathetic. >> the bias is so out in the open, it is so obvious that they take no effort whatsoever to even conceal it anymore. they are propaganda press for the regime in power. this is a story, laura, fundamentally about pay for play, about influence peddling, about a corruption scheme that goes to the heart of our government. this is about what did joe biden do year after year to justify foreign governments funneling millions of dollars into his family's bank account? hunter has all those answers. they cou

president biden's son hunter agreed to a plea deal which wraps up a five year investigation. biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and admit to illegally possessing a gun while being a drug user. >> this indicates that the department of justice thought this is where they could get agreement. this is where if they went to trial, could show proof beyond a reasonable doubt. >> reporter: hunter biden will have to appear before a judge to enter the plea deal. the prosecutor who is a hold over from the trump administration is expected to recommend probation. the gun charge would be removed after two years if biden completes a diversion program. hunter biden's attorney says he agrees this will end the government's investigation but hunter biden's name won't go anywhere any time soon. >> i don't think it will quiet critics. i think we will continue to see that the house will hold hearings. >> reporter: congressman james comer leading investigations into hunter biden called it a slap on the wrist. republicans in the house are investigating hunter's business dealings in

many eyebrows raised whether thinks attorney said the following. >> do you think hunter biden was treatedairly? >> that's a really complicated question. >> why is it so complicated. >> i think that, you know, mr. biden had a period in his life that was troubled, where, you know, it's very clear he didn't timely pay the taxes he was supposed to pay at the time. he subsequently has paid them. but, he didn't timely pay them. >> now, for years, the president claimed his son did nothing wrong. yesterday, he said he still stands by his son. >> mr. president, have you spoken to your son today? have you spoken to your son today? >> thanks. >> mr. president, any reaction. >> i'm very proud of my son. >> top democrat on the oversight committee saying hunter biden's plea deal reflects the justice department's continued institutional independence. and following the evidence of actual crimes, forcing the rule of law even in the face of constant criticism and heckling by my g.o.p. colleagues who think that the system of justice should only follow their partisan wishes. the "new york post" reports hunte

he says as donald trump predicted, biden's justice department is cutting a sweetheart deal for hunter biden their case to get trump appear fair. biden's doj continued to turn a blind eye to the biden family corruption and bribery scheme. the american people need donald trump back in office to appoint a truly independent special prosecutor that will finally bring justice. that prosecutor is recommending hunter biden to probation. this investigation since 2018 onwards. stuart: trump calls in a sweetheart deal. more on this through the show. now this. the president and first lady will be in san francisco addressing homelessness, fentanyl or violent crime. they are raising money, campaigning for another term. there will be the obligatory >> -- speeches on climate change and amag republicans but they will avoid the hell scape san francisco has become. takes nerve, your policies helped ruin the city but you drop into take the money and run. this program has taken the lead covering san francisco. lauren showed the frightening impact of fentanyl, listed the companies and hotels and stores that have

yesterday, doj revealed that hunter biden struck a plea deal . today, that deal is at the center of a big fight over justice department fairness and what should happen now. mr. biden's attorney calls the end result five years of diligent, fair work. this morning, the attorney general waiting for the first time saying, he left the biden matter entirely in the hands of the trump appointed u.s. attorney in delaware. >> as i said it from the moment of my appointment as attorney general, i would leave this matter in the hands of the united states attorney who was appointed by the previous president, and assigned to this matter by the previous administration, that he would be given full authority to decide the matter as he decided it was appropriate. that is what he has done. >>> let's get straight to capitol hill for more on the republican reaction. you are in the halls, like you always are, talking to members. what are you hearing today so far? >> house of republicans are still trying to map out their strategy about how this would affect their investi

sources tell nbc news the prosecutor will recommend probation while also agreeing not to prosecute hunter biden for illegally possessing a firearm even though biden knew he was barred from doing so because he was using drugs. biden faced a maximum 12 months behind bars for each tax charge and up to ten years for owning the handgun. >> i think what's fair is, you know, my client gets on with his life. >> reporter: still, republicans tonight are slamming the deal that comes just days after a special counsel's 37-count indictment against former president trump for his handling of classified documents. mr. trump has pleaded not guilty. the former president tonight accusing the biden justice department of giving hunter biden, quote, a mere traffic ticket. our system is broken. top republicans argue it's evidence of a double standard. >> it continues to show the two-tiered system in america. if you are the president's leading political opponent and the doj tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time. if you are the president's son you get a sweetheart deal. >> reporter: the u.s. attor

attorney though led that federal investigation into hunter biden, david weiss was briefed on the fbi form that contained allegations that then vice-president joe biden and a foreign national were engaged in a criminal bribery scheme. and as to weiss listen to what the whistleblower gary shapley told our own bret baier tonight. >> i called us attorney david weiss and we need to execute the search warrant. he respondeded that the prosecutors didn't want to. no sooner had gotten off the phone with david weiss had we learned that the prosecutors were informing defense counsel of the storage unit and the evidence that existed there. >> and you believed what was in there was crucial to the case. >> yes, we believed so and but we'll never know now because we weren't allowed to access it. >> laura: never know now. is that really accurate, too? could we learn more? well, the more we peel back this onion the more two themes emerge. one, everything that garland claimed about the supposed independence of the investigation seems tonight to have been a lie. and, two, the suggestion that this was so

but in the words of former president donald trump today, people are going wild over the hunter biden h the doj. today conservatives on and conservative media had an absolute it, claiming this plea deal is evidence the doj went too easy on hunter, and it's all evidence of a two tiered justice system. that could not be farther from the truth. let's look for a second at the two investigations republicans are using as evidence of the supposed two tiered system. first, there is the investigation to hunter biden's taxes, which was launched by the trump justice department back in 2018. the investigation was assigned to the trump appointed u.s. attorney for delaware, david weiss. when biden took office, he could have easily replaced delawares you s attorney. delaware is biden's home state. presidents replace u.s. attorneys all the time. it would have been -- trump appointed prosecutor with someone more in line with the goals of his own administration. but here's the thing, he didn't. biden kept trump's own pick for u.s. attorney in place so it did not even give the impression that he was inte

between hunter biden and a chinese business partner, this july 30th, 2017, hunter was 30,2 very that a, quote, commitment, from china was not fulfilled. threatening big consequences. th quote the big guy himself, his dad who was sitting next to himn that he wasn't made whole quote. i amote. sitting here with my father and would like to understand whand wouly commit made has not been fulfilled. hunter continued quote, i willet make certain that between the man sitting next to metthat and every person that he knows and my ability to hold grudge foll you will regret not following my direction. i am sitting here waiting for the call with my father pops, who takes half his income. the big guy, joe. now with my father. >> now, didn't joe promise agaiamerican people. >> over and over again. i never once spoke to my son about his foreign business dealings. not one time. but it appears. joe is a critical part of thattt business. instead of investigate the suspicious activities. sut n the doj went to grea lengths we now know to protect joe biden and his son. e bithese whistleblower's testimoni

the hunter biden investigation was never about hunter. it was always about joe. that's what the laptop tells us. the whistleblowers, the bank records. and the house investigation will continue to investigate joe biden and follow the money when prosecutors won't. and today james comer looked at two more secret fbi documents that christopher wray has been holding back. and we'll learn more about those in the coming days. let's turn it over to brett tolman, is he a former federal prosecutor who specializes in tax crimes. all right. bret, is this case a sweetheart deal? >> jesse, let's start with the beginning of a sweetheart deal. you have joe biden who ushered in penalties, extreme penalties for crack cocaine distribution, possession distribution and use. and 100 times the length of a sentence for powder cocaine. and then he just recently signed a bill that if you are a user in possession of a firearm, you are no longer facing up to 10 years but 15 years. so he is willing to be real tough, take off the kid gloves, when it comes to these types of crimes, unless it's

hunter biden's attorney believes this case is settled. but the justice department today saying the investigation is still ongoing. walk us through what that actually means. >> reporter: we have no indication that hunter biden is still under active doj investigation. his attorneys are adamant. they say this is it that after five years of digging into hunter biden's life, these are all the charges prosecutors could bring. now we all have to wait for a judge to be assigned to the case and to see if the deal will be approved. whit? >> pierre thomas with those developments today, thank you. >>> let's bring in abc's chief white house correspondent mary bruce traveling with the president in california. the white house is insisting they had no role in hunter biden's case. >> reporter: what the white house has been trying to keep its distance from all of this, stressing that the president has never discussed this investigation with the attorney general. but the president is not distancing himself from his son. biden has always said that he thinks

the probe against hunter biden started under trump, continued under biden with a trump appointed prosecutor in part because rudy giuliani and others were pursuing an allegation that hunter, and president biden had allegedly received a bribe from ukraine's energy company, burisma. the only problem? there seems to be no evidence of it. even in the republicans republicans touted as evidence, those apparently don't exist either. we don't know if this is the end of the federal investigation into hunter biden, but we know the charges that republicans wish to prove against him are nowhere to be found into these court filings. so, faced with the reality that this could've been a nothing kids from the beginning, republicans are flipping the script. and they are finally letting us know what this is all about. >> this is an investigation of joe biden. this is still an investigation of joe biden. the president son, obviously as a person of interest in the investigation. but regardless, we are going to continue to focus on joe biden. we will continue to follow the money, hopefully we will be having more

was very quick to slam hunter biden's plea agreement, criticizing hunter biden and the justice department media. joining us kristen welker and u.s. chief peter maker. i want to play your question to president biden in the debate about hunter biden. >> there have been questions about the work your son has done in china and for the ukrainian energy company when you were vice president. in retrospect, was anything inappropriate or unethical. >> nothing was unethical. here's the deal, with regard to ukraine, we had this whole question about whether or not, because he was on the board of burisma, a company, that somehow i'd done something wrong. every single solitary person when he was going through his impeachment, testifying under oath who worked for him said i did my job impeccably. i carried out u.s. policy. not one single solitary thing was out of line. >> that doesn't get to the issue about whether it was inappropriate, that appearance for ukraine, when he was doing ukraine -- >> the optics were incredibly problematic, andrea at the time. they will undoubtedly be on the campaign trail an

be ni hunter biden. hece owed more than 2 million in taxes and he escaped with just w ita slap on the wrist. and now we learn that the deep state, the doj, the fbi, the irs, they interfered with the hunter biden probe e. . according to house wayss and means committee chair jason smith, therean was a delah divulge and deny campaigern testimony. we have just released details. a lack of u.s. attorney independence recurring unjustified delays, unusual actions outside the normals course of anoutsidy investigati a lack of transparency across the investigation and prosecution teams and bullying and threats from the defensstigatioe counsel. this was a campaign of delay. divulge and deny whistleblower say reoccurring, unjustified delays pervaded the investigation, including an author that authenticating a whatsapp message iann which hunter biden demands payment from chinese officials, noting that his father is in the room . >> they delayed, passed the statute of limitations for some of hunter's crimes. they divul

and hunter biden were shaking down a guy connected to chinese intelligencen official. >> yes. >> juan: in any capacity as vice president. >> he said he had nothing to do with it. he lied. >> secondly who would you believe here, a kid. involved drugs to the point of addiction or a man who is the former vice president and current president and there is no evidence that he was on this app. >> i would believe the g.p.s. location data if they wanted to get and that the justice department would not allow themes agents to get the g.p.s. location data to see if it was true. >> trace: bring kimberley back in here she makes a good point. other people saying joe biden knew about this including tony bobulinski. >> that's right. tony bobulinski, hunter's former business partner is on the record under oath in front of congress. okay. you also have the agents, the whistleblowers in this case provide the outcome of an interview with rob walker, another of hunter's former business partners who suggested that joe biden had been brought in during a lunch to help close a deal.

these charges against hunter biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the oversight committee investigation. we won't rest until the full extent of president biden's involvement in the family schemes are revealed. professor, do you think it is possible that as hunter biden's new legal team was looking at the evidence that was coming out of the house oversight committee's investigation led them to tell hunter biden he would be best advised to take these pleas now because it could only get worse? >> absolutely. a year ago i wrote a column that i was seeing evidence of what they call in the construction field a controlled demolition. the way you take down a scandal is to control it. to confine it, to reduce the charges, things like misdemeanors. i said it was very likely the plan was to have a couple of misdemeanors on taxes and a gun charge that would not require much, if any, jail time. that is what happened. now the thing is, i don't necessarily disagree with the tax charges being misdemeanors. the question is the scope of the investigation. we are talking about millions of do

>> well in this chge, with regard to hunter biden, there is a lot more with joe biden as vice presidenten, he had boxes in his garage for years. hillary clinton had a private server in the bathroom, staff used a hammer on devices like phones and ipads, et cetera, to destroy evidence. that was destruction. whatever the standard is for current presidents, past senators, past vice presidents, even if your last name is donald trump, the standard should be the same for everybody. >> i'm asking specifically about the stemeni read at the top of the interview. you said what they are trying to do too trump is not fair, compared to what the deal they gave biden. putting it another way, you said president biden is using quote, his doj to put his top political rival in jail. er attornegeneral bill barr would disagree with you. he writes this week,, if true, many key facts come from trump's own lawyers. he writes of the indictment, brazen terminal conduct that cannot be justified in any way. it is time republicans come to grips with the hard truths. chancendictment is not result of unfair gornment p