WASHINGTON, D.C. – While considering whether to accept or reject Hunter Biden’s recently announced plea deal on tax and gun charges, the Judge ought to have all of the relevant information, including recently released IRS whistleblower testimony, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) wrote in a letter today to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss. Rather than hide relevant information, Smith calls on Garland and Weiss to submit the materials into the formal court record ahead of the July 26, 2023, scheduled plea hearing:
“Over the course of a single week in June, the existence of a plea agreement in this matter became public, a plea hearing was scheduled, and the Committee submitted whistleblower testimony to the full House. Given the abruptness of the plea agreement announcement shortly after it became public that whistleblowers made disclosures to Congress, the seriousness of the whistleblower allegations, and the fact that multiple congressional investigations into the matter are ongoing, we ask that you file this letter and the attached information in the docket…Placing the attached materials into the record is critical because the testimony provided by the two IRS whistleblowers brings new and compelling facts to light, and because it is essential for the Judge in this matter to have relevant information before her when evaluating the plea agreement,” wrote Chairman Smith.
In his letter, Smith also highlights precedent where judges have rejected plea agreements for a variety of reasons, including situations where the judge finds that such deals were inadequate or deficient given the crimes committed or the motivation of the accused, or the plea deal was not in the best interest of the country. For example:
“In one state court proceeding, a judge rejected a plea agreement because ‘[i]t is contrary to justice. Justice in this society cannot be seen as being able to buy oneself out of a felony conviction.’ The Judge also went on to say, ‘[m]any in our community steal much less and go to prison or to jail…They steal much less and they don’t get a deferred judgment because they don’t have any money.’”
Read the full letter here.
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