Jason Smith, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, filed an amicus brief with the judge hearing Hunter Biden’s plea deal Wednesday morning, urging her to reject the plea agreements because of “political interference” may have led to Hunter getting a lax deal, CNN reports.
“The Defendant appears to have benefited from political interference which calls into question the propriety of the investigation of the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Smith’s filing said, adding “it is critical that the Court consider the Whistleblower Materials before determining whether to accept the Plea Agreement.” Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee, can reject the plea agreement on two misdemeanors for failure to pay taxes and one gun felony for lying on a federal gun application about drug addiction, a charge that will require to follow a court-mandated sobriety plan and check in with court officers for a few years.
Believing the Deep State is giving Hunter a pass even though a Trump-appointed US Attorney investigated the case and negotiated the deal, Smith refers to two IRS agents who testified they heard contradictory things to what the US Attorney investigating the case had said publicly. This grumbling from two IRS agents whose recommendations were largely ignored by prosecutors seems to be the basis for the latest GOP claim to impeach President Joe Biden.
The filing has become something of a hot button because a staffer for Hunter’s attorneys called up the court clerks and had the document removed from the public docket, allegedly claiming to work for Smith’s lawyers who filed the motion. Hunter’s lawyers claim it was a simple misunderstanding, but the judge has threatened Biden’s counsel with sanctions.