Hunter Biden’s attorneys threatened to put President on the witness stand before settlement fell: report
According to one report, Hunter Biden’s attorneys warned prosecutors last year that the defense would put the president on the witness stand to testify in his son’s defense if criminal charges were ever brought against him.
Hunter’s attorney Chris Clark wrote a letter to prosecutors last October after it was revealed federal agents had enough evidence to charge the first son with illegally purchasing a firearm while still using crack.
Clark said if the Justice Department indicted Hunter, the defense would be forced to put the commander in chief on the witness stand.
“President Biden would now undoubtedly be a factual witness for the defense in any criminal proceeding,” Clark wrote in a 32-page letter obtained from Politico.
The email and another 300 pages of emails verified by the news outlet give new, undisclosed insight into how Hunter’s sweet deal – which would have saved him from jail – fell apart at the seams at the last minute last month .
The younger Biden, 53, pleaded not guilty to federal tax and gun charges in Delaware on July 26 after US District Judge Maryellen Noreika withdrew the deal – which was criticized by congressional Republicans for its leniency.
The judge had concerns about ongoing investigations into Hunter’s other potential crimes, including his failure to register as a foreign agent for lucrative foreign deals allegedly involving his father. After persistent questioning, Clark declared the deal “null and void.”
In conversations over the past few months, Clark and his team have often told prosecutors at private hearings that they were concerned about the tense political atmosphere surrounding the case, Politico said.
They raised concerns about pressure from Republican lawmakers, arguing that the case could damage the DOJ’s reputation.
Clark said that a trial of the president’s son that would pit the president against his own Justice Department would result in constitutional chaos.
“This case of all things does not justify the spectacle of a sitting president testifying at a criminal trial, nor the possibility of a consequent constitutional crisis,” Clark wrote.
Noreika on Thursday dismissed the tax fraud charges against his first son, Hunter Biden.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Delaware Attorney David Weiss as the special counsel in the case.
The appointment will allow him to pursue charges in other counties without approval from Biden officers, which stalled Weiss’ previous efforts to indict Hunter on multimillion-dollar tax fraud charges.
Hunter is expected to stand trial in either Washington DC or Southern California.
