Bracing for impact: Biden world preps for Hunter Biden fallout
Biden aides are more worried about the personal toll it will take on the president as a father. Hunter and Joe Biden The White House has concluded that Republicans will attack President Joe Biden over the charging decision in Hunter Biden's case whether Hunter is criminally indicted or not. | Visar Kryeziu/AP Photo By Jonathan Lemire 05/06/2023 07:00 AM EDT Updated: 05/06/2023 08:35 AM EDT The White House is bracing for the political fallout from the charging decision in the Hunter Biden case. And they’ve concluded that Republicans will attack them over it whether President Joe Biden’s son is criminally indicted or not. In conversations, Democrats and senior West Wing aides are downplaying the potential impact, arguing Hunter Biden was a factor in the 2020 election and voters elected his father anyway. They point out the president’s top rival, Donald Trump, was just indicted himself. But people close to Biden still worry about the personal toll it will take on a father who has already felt anguish about a son’s struggles amid a long history of family tragedy. And they wonder how long he can compartmentalize personal anger with the attacks on Hunter and the political calculation that he’s better off not responding to it.
Biden has long agonized over the fate of his surviving son, expressing that worry in phone calls with longtime friends and to Hunter himself. Attorneys for Hunter Biden met at Justice Department headquarters in Washington last week to discuss the tax- and gun-related case with prosecutors, according to a person familiar with the matter. Often a signal that an investigation is concluding, such meetings are used by defense lawyers to urge prosecutors to refrain from seeking an indictment or to consider reduced charges. The probe has centered on whether Biden failed to report all of his income and whether he lied on a form for buying a gun. His attorneys declined comment.
“Obviously, the Biden team would hope that this investigation does not result in an indictment for a multitude of reasons,” said Jennifer Palmieri, who served as President Barack Obama’s communications director.
“But the Republicans have failed — both in the 2020 campaign and in their 2023 congressional hearings — to have questions about Hunter Biden impact public opinion and I don’t think they will succeed now, regardless of what DOJ decides.” Donald Trump “The Biden administration is the most corrupt administration in American history. Hunter Biden is a criminal, and nothing happened to him, nothing happened,” said Trump at a recent rally. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo There is no Hunter Biden war room at the White House, according to four people familiar granted anonymity to speak freely. Defense for the president’s son is being handled by his personal attorneys and the White House is not involved with legal matters. The campaign and the Democratic National Committee officials will likely take the lead in responding to political inquiries, while White House staffers will respond if the accusations touch on official government business.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/...world-preps-for-hunter-biden-fallout-00095636
Biden aides are more worried about the personal toll it will take on the president as a father. Hunter and Joe Biden The White House has concluded that Republicans will attack President Joe Biden over the charging decision in Hunter Biden's case whether Hunter is criminally indicted or not. | Visar Kryeziu/AP Photo By Jonathan Lemire 05/06/2023 07:00 AM EDT Updated: 05/06/2023 08:35 AM EDT The White House is bracing for the political fallout from the charging decision in the Hunter Biden case. And they’ve concluded that Republicans will attack them over it whether President Joe Biden’s son is criminally indicted or not. In conversations, Democrats and senior West Wing aides are downplaying the potential impact, arguing Hunter Biden was a factor in the 2020 election and voters elected his father anyway. They point out the president’s top rival, Donald Trump, was just indicted himself. But people close to Biden still worry about the personal toll it will take on a father who has already felt anguish about a son’s struggles amid a long history of family tragedy. And they wonder how long he can compartmentalize personal anger with the attacks on Hunter and the political calculation that he’s better off not responding to it.
Biden has long agonized over the fate of his surviving son, expressing that worry in phone calls with longtime friends and to Hunter himself. Attorneys for Hunter Biden met at Justice Department headquarters in Washington last week to discuss the tax- and gun-related case with prosecutors, according to a person familiar with the matter. Often a signal that an investigation is concluding, such meetings are used by defense lawyers to urge prosecutors to refrain from seeking an indictment or to consider reduced charges. The probe has centered on whether Biden failed to report all of his income and whether he lied on a form for buying a gun. His attorneys declined comment.
“Obviously, the Biden team would hope that this investigation does not result in an indictment for a multitude of reasons,” said Jennifer Palmieri, who served as President Barack Obama’s communications director.
“But the Republicans have failed — both in the 2020 campaign and in their 2023 congressional hearings — to have questions about Hunter Biden impact public opinion and I don’t think they will succeed now, regardless of what DOJ decides.” Donald Trump “The Biden administration is the most corrupt administration in American history. Hunter Biden is a criminal, and nothing happened to him, nothing happened,” said Trump at a recent rally. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo There is no Hunter Biden war room at the White House, according to four people familiar granted anonymity to speak freely. Defense for the president’s son is being handled by his personal attorneys and the White House is not involved with legal matters. The campaign and the Democratic National Committee officials will likely take the lead in responding to political inquiries, while White House staffers will respond if the accusations touch on official government business.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/...world-preps-for-hunter-biden-fallout-00095636
