On Tuesday at the top of MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes,” Hayes took a look at the news that Hunter Biden, the troubled son of President Joe Biden, has reached a plea agreement with the Justice Department that would end a federal Used to be. Investigation which has lasted for more than 5 years.
But Hayes, who has expressed criticism of the young Biden’s conduct, focused on the fact that Republicans have been “obsessed” with him for years, an obsession Hayes dismissed as “sheer sadism” and nothing more than an attempt to wreak a son’s addiction against the father for political purposes.
Watch the video here now, and read on if you can’t see it.
In case you need a refresher, Hunter Biden has been under investigation for multiple alleged crimes since 2018, an investigation ordered under the Trump administration and continuing under the Biden administration. It’s complicated but the gist is that in the mid-2010s, Hunter Biden broke free of his drug and alcohol addictions while working positions for foreign companies that apparently traded on their proximity to American centers of power. Did. His behavior during that period became public due to leaked videos and other information documenting his struggle.
His father has never been implicated in any wrongdoing, but Hunter Biden’s problems became a fixation for conservatives trying to draw parallels between Biden and Donald Trump, and the whole thing was fueled by Ukraine-related speculation and Has been the subject of unfounded conspiracy theories, factual questions about wrongdoing or unethical behavior. He has reached a deal in which he will plead guilty to tax evasion, and avoid a charge of illegal purchase of a firearm. Read more about it here,
Beginning his remarks, Hayes noted that President Biden has not specifically intervened in the investigation. Biden, Hayes explained, did what all other presidents have done — fired and replaced all U.S. attorneys, but he made exceptions for two of those conducting the Trump-ordered investigation.
“They hired John Durham. Remember that guy? Durham was allowed to stay and complete what was essentially a wild goose chase ordered by Trump to bring the ‘Deep State’ to account, a The swan chase that basically came to nothing,” Hayes said. “And then there was David Weiss. David Weiss is the Delaware US attorney, and he’s the guy who launched the Hunter Biden investigation in 2018. New President Joe Biden left Weiss in Delaware to help with the ongoing investigation into his son. not be interfered with in any way.”
Hayes then explained where things stand with Hunter Biden, “It’s been a remarkable road to get to this point. I mean, this is the first time the Justice Department has brought an allegation against the child of a sitting president. And Joe We know, and it appears from the timeline, that federal prosecutors handled this case very similarly to their investigation of former President Trump. Which is to say, at every point, up and down the chain of command, they got their way. stepped back from, bent over backwards so as not to appear biased or biased or unfair.
Hayes noted Bombshell Washington Post story published Sunday It details how the FBI and Attorney General Merrick Garland apparently opposed the investigation into Trump’s role in inciting the January 6 insurrection. believed “a fatigue about showing partisan institutional caution and how little evidence was sufficient to examine Trump’s actions and those around him contributed to the slow pace.”
“This investigation of Hunter Biden has gone on for five years. It’s a long, extensive investigation involving federal prosecutors, FBI agents, IRS officers that has resulted in allegations that experts say are rarely prosecuted. That gun charge, in particular, prohibits a drug addict from possessing a weapon, a rarely used statute that is facing legal challenges has been used in high profile cases where the underlying conduct was not clear in any way. Does not violate federal criminal law. Notably Weiss made no allegations related to Hunter Biden’s dealings with foreign entities, years after Republicans made allegations about his ties to China and Ukraine,” Hayes said.
“And then, presumably they saw that stuff in the five years they went through all that, right? Sure enough, Republicans started moving the goalposts soon after the news broke,” Hayes continued. Donald Trump and a Republican congressman complained about the plea deal and accused Joe Biden of being some kind of crime boss.
“Now, the right wing attacks on Biden in particular on Hunter Biden have generally been in bad faith. I will say that there has been some legitimate criticism, particularly of Hunter Biden’s work for a Ukrainian energy company called Burma. An appointment that certainly had the appearance and in my mind the possibility of a foreign entity clearly attempting to buy access to or curry favor with the then Vice President of the United States. And Hunter Biden clearly should not accept that role. But he has made very poor decisions over the years. It’s not just that. And I think both Hunter Biden and his father would agree, largely related to his lifelong struggle with drug and alcohol use,” Hayes said.
But, Hayes continued, “all the attacks on Hunter Biden certainly have a way of hurting his father.”
“If you look at the right-wing media, I don’t know how much you do it, they’re obsessed with Hunter Biden, just kind of a sort of ritualized humiliation of him, a staple of their programming, and it’s All is clearly and clearly an attempt to wage a kind of psychological warfare on the President,” Hayes said. “Joe Biden has no control over his adult son’s actions. We all know that, I think the people who perpetrate these ridiculous attacks know that. We must focus on his only surviving son, whom he clearly loves very much.
As evidence, Hayes played the leaked voicemails from 2018, in which Joe Biden can be heard expressing his love and support for Hunter Biden and urging him to seek help, a recording, Hayes said. said that the Republicans tried Used in attack on Biden,
“I’ll bet good money that most people who have just heard this have someone they love who was in the same place as Hunter Biden, dealing with substance issues.” Were there, and can relate to that. Maybe even admire the way Biden spoke to his son. Hunter Biden thankfully helped, and credits his family for never giving up,” Hayes to continue.
“I think today’s outcome of the long-winded investigation into Hunter Biden is ultimately good for the rule of law and justice, even though I honestly think they probably went out of their way to charge him. But no one – anyone – should forget what it was all about. The sheer sadism of trying to turn the son’s addiction against the father for political purposes. It’s what’s animated this whole enterprise from the start,” Hayes concluded.