Congressional Republicans are claiming vindication after Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine federal tax-related charges on Thursday – and warning President Biden not to pardon his son.
Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital that he believes the plea “absolutely” affirms the accusations and findings GOP lawmakers have levied against the First Family since before President Biden took office.
“It’s also vindication for the whistleblowers,” he added, accusing Hunter Biden’s defenders of trying to “wreck their careers.”
He said of the president potentially pardoning him, “I think it would be an abuse of that power for the President to do that, but I think a lot of people will be surprised if Joe Biden doesn’t.”
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House GOP Chairmen Jason Smith, left, and James Comer, right, led Republicans in claiming vindication in Hunter Biden’s guilty pleas. (Getty Images)
The White House has said multiple times that the president will not pardon his son, but that has not stopped Republican-led skepticism from pouring in.
It comes after a bombshell House GOP report, which the White House has pushed back on, that accused the president of committing “impeachable offenses” by allegedly helping enrich himself and his family through foreign deals.
Meanwhile, House Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., whose committee is one of three that was investigating Biden via impeachment inquiry, similarly said the guilty plea upheld the testimony of whistleblowers who came to his panel.
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“Hunter Biden’s decision to plead guilty once again affirms the integrity of the IRS whistleblowers who recommended these exact charges over two years ago before being stonewalled by the Biden-Harris Justice Department. Had Joseph Ziegler and Gary Shapley not come forward, putting their reputations and careers at great risk in the process, Hunter Biden would have received a sweetheart plea deal for merely two misdemeanors,” Smith told Fox News Digital.
Smith added as a veiled warning, “It remains to be seen whether President Biden will abuse the power of his office to ensure his son avoids the consequences of his felony tax crimes.”
A court sketch depicts Hunter Biden as he appears in federal court in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, September 5, 2024. (Bill Robles)
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who also co-led the probe, said, “Hunter Biden is finally admitting the obvious: he didn’t pay taxes on income he received by selling access to his father, Joe Biden.”
A member of that committee, Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital, “We also can’t let Hunter Biden’s plea deal distract from the fact that he was the bag man in the Biden family’s influence peddling scheme that saw them amass some $27 million by selling political access to ‘the big guy,’ Joe Biden.”
“For more than a decade, Hunter and his associates enriched themselves at the expense of the American people. By all means, Hunter needs to be held to account, but this is by no means the end when it comes to equal justice under the law,” Fallon said.
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Biden and his allies have consistently pushed back on accusations levied by House Republicans, dismissing them as misrepresentations and political attacks.
But that has not convinced GOP lawmakers like Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who warned Biden not to pardon his son.
House Republicans have been investigating President Biden for years. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
“Hunter Biden’s bait-and-switch stunt is a clear effort to avoid a messy trial that would reveal his father’s role in the family’s corrupt business dealings. Americans will once again witness the Bidens’ corruption go unpunished as President Biden will likely pardon his son on his way out of the Oval Office,” Biggs said.
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday that “no,” Hunter Biden would not get a presidential pardon from his father, hours before he entered his guilty plea.
Biden himself said in June that he would “abide by the jury’s decision” when asked if he would pardon his son.