Where Things Stand: House GOPers Already Pulling Investigate The Investigators Card Over Hunter Biden Plea

This is your TPM evening briefing.

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. James Comer (R-KY) speak prior to a hearing before the House Oversight Committee in the Rayburn Building titled "Protecting the Timely Delivery of Mail, M... WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. James Comer (R-KY) speak prior to a hearing before the House Oversight Committee in the Rayburn Building titled "Protecting the Timely Delivery of Mail, Medicine, and Mail-in Ballots" on August 24, 2020 in Washington, DC. The USPS is under financial and operational scrutiny ahead of the upcoming November presidential elections, where mail-in voting is set to play a large role given the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images) MORE LESS

June 20, 2023 6:27 p.m.

Start your day with TPM.

Even being a Trump appointee won’t shield you from the wrath of a House Republican majority foaming at the mouth to prove just how weaponized!!! the justice system is (but only when it serves their talking-point purposes).

As you’ve likely seen by now, the man whose mere existence and human activities have been living rent-free in the heads of far-right Republicans and the right-wing media for years now, Hunter Biden, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors on three federal charges, according to a Tuesday court document. The President’s son will plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay federal income taxes. Federal prosecutors also reached an agreement on a separate gun charge that will allow Hunter Biden to likely avoid conviction.

The response from the James Comers and the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the Republican Party was predictable, arguing the “sweetheart plea deal” was nothing more than a political stunt to make it look like the President’s son was cooperating with the DOJ, “We are controlled by COMMUNISTS!!” Greene tweeted, etc.

Comer put out a statement vowing to continue using his chairmanship on the House Oversight Committee to funnel mostly unfounded and fact-free claims about Hunter Biden and the amorphous Biden Crime Family corruption into the Fox News eco chamber.

This is all, of course, ignoring the fact that the man behind the deal, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss, is a Republican federal prosecutor appointed by then-President Trump in 2018. My colleague Josh Marshall noted here that President Biden left Weiss on as U.S. Attorney in Delaware in order to avoid even a whisper of allegations about interfering in the investigation into his son.

But alas, no one is safe from the influences of the “”””deep state””” and Comer and Jim Jordan are here to do the thing they were born to do called Make Noise About Investigating Any Investigators Whose Investigations Don’t Meet My Political Needs.

.@RepJamesComer tells reporters he will consult with Jim Jordan tonight on next steps about investigating David Weiss, who led Hunter Biden probe.

“I think the US attorney will be invited to testify to some committee, whether it be Judiciary or Weaponization or Oversight.”
— Max Cohen (@maxpcohen) June 20, 2023

Comer on the fact that US Attorney who reached plea deal with Hunter Biden is Trump-appointed:

“I think that even Trump himself admitted he made some mistakes in hiring. I’m not saying he made a mistake with the US Attorney in Delaware or not.”
— Stephen Neukam (@stephen_neukam) June 20, 2023