President Biden’s son may face trial as special counsel appointed to probe tax and gun case
The US attorney general has appointed a special counsel to investigate the financial and business dealings of the son of President Joe Biden.
Merrick Garland said he is promoting David Weiss, the US attorney in Delaware who has already been probing Hunter Biden, to the position.
He will be responsible for the “ongoing investigation” of President Joe Biden’s son, “as well as for any other matters that arose or may arise from that investigation,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
Mr Biden, 53, pleaded not guilty last month to two tax charges in a Delaware court, after a plea deal he had struck apparently unravelled.
He was accused of evading $100,000 (£77,000) in taxes from income of over $1.5m in 2017 and 2018.
Mr Weiss, who was initially appointed into his role by former president Donald Trump, said after talks over a plea deal for Mr Biden had broken down, a trial may be “in order”.
Prosecutors say charges may need to be filed against Mr Biden in Washington DC or California.
“The parties have engaged in further plea negotiations but are at an impasse. The government now believes that the case will not resolve short of a trial,” a filing stated.
Mr Garland said on Tuesday, Weiss told him: “In his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a special counsel, and he asked to be appointed.”
The announcement comes as House Republicans launch their own investigation into Hunter Biden and his business dealings, while the GOP in Congress has threatened to launch impeachment inquiries over allegations the president may have benefitted from his son’s ventures.
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Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden in February
The White House previously dismissed those allegations as “insane conspiracy theories”, adding Mr Biden did not get involved in his son’s business affairs.
In response to the appointment of a special counsel, Hunter Biden’s attorney, Chris Clark said in a statement: “Whether in Delaware, Washington DC, or anywhere else, we expect a fair resolution on behalf of our client – this US Attorney has diligently been investigating my client for five years, and he had proposed a resolution which we fully intend to pursue in court.
“It is hard to see why he would have proposed such a resolution if there were other offences he could have successfully prosecuted, and we are aware of none. We are confident when all of these manoeuvrings are at an end my client will have resolution and will be moving on with his life successfully.”
Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s likely rival in the 2024 election, has repeatedly sought to use Hunter Biden’s legal trouble’s in an attempt to smear his opponent, despite his own charges.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
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