On Thursday, CNN This Morning covered Judge Maryellen Noreika’s dismissal of the Hunter Biden plea deal. The defense and prosecution teams appeared before the judge claiming a deal, but the parties disagreed on what Hunter could be charged with in the future. CNN assumed prosecutors lacked adequate evidence to win a trial and warned viewers not to “expect Republicans to have fidelity to the facts of the case over the narrative they're trying to pursue.”
Political correspondent Sara Murray asserted that prosecutors likely wished to avoid a trial due to weaknesses in their case:
I think the way we saw yesterday play out, the way this deal fell apart, came back together, the Judge’s concerns about it, there is always the chance that this kind of thing that ends up going to trial, which I don't necessarily think is what prosecutors want in this case. My colleagues have previously reported prosecutors had some concerns about some parts of the strength of this case as they’ve been investigating Hunter Biden.
“There was sort of a little win in this pause for both sides,” host Erica Hill said. “Yes, Republicans can continue to talk about it. But the fact too that this is an ongoing investigation, that may actually make it harder in some cases for Republicans to get some of the information that they're after.”
Hill dismissed the Hunter Biden case as political fodder for Republicans. Still, her referral to a lack of transparency as a small win for Democrats made one wonder what information she thought they might find.
Senior political analyst and anchor John Avlon claimed Republicans would misuse the case for political purposes. “But don't expect Republicans to have fidelity to the facts of the case over the narrative they're trying to pursue and the investigations that probably should occur,” Avlon said.
“Republicans will look for political gain,” Avlon warned. “There may very well be reasons to investigate the larger questions of money further, but this was a fundamental fear of lawyering with a lot of political implications.”
Conservative political correspondent Scott Jennings defended Republicans from Avlon and Hill’s accusations:
Well, they would say that the facts of the case haven't been fully given to the public. I mean, they, Republicans on Capitol Hill, think there's a lot of information here that’s being hidden from the public. It's why they had the whistle-blowers come to Congress.
Jennings corrected Hill’s earlier statement that a lack of transparency was a win for anyone. He continued: “And so, for as long as this has been going on, Republicans have believed a lot of things are being hidden from the public to protect Joe Biden, and so more facts are coming out, and that's a good thing. Transparency here for Joe Biden. He's the president. It's deserved.”
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The Transcript is below, click "expand" to read.
CNN This Morning
7/27/2023
6:11 AM Eastern
[…]
POPPY HARLOW: Sara, you've reported on this so closely for so many months, there's a world in which a plea deal does not come together, right? And where this could go to trial?
SARA MURRAY: I mean there is of course a world. I mean, I think the way we saw yesterday play out, the way this deal fell apart, came back together, the Judge’s concerns about it, there is always the chance that this kind of thing that ends up going to trial, which I don't necessarily think is what prosecutors want in this case. My colleagues have previously reported prosecutors had some concerns about some parts of the strength of this case as they’ve been investigating Hunter Biden. And obviously, it seems like Hunter Biden would like to avoid a trial.
So, I think what's most likely is both sides are going to go back and try to craft a plea agreement that they think is going to satisfy the judge, maybe make tweaks to the one they have, or at least be able to answer the judge's questions more efficiently. But you can't rule out the possibility that this could be something that goes to trial. Again, because Hunter Biden was not able to get that deal signed off on in court yesterday, he did this pro-Forma move of pleading not guilty.
[…]
6:41 AM Eastern
SCOTT JENNINGS: Well, I mean, I think fundamentally Republicans believe that there's so much more there with Hunter Biden that this plea agreement as it had been reported was simply not sufficient. And --
HARLOW: That's fine, but that's not why the judge questioned it.
JENNINGS: Sure. But to them I mean, look, they're not here to give you a legal analysis. They're here to give you the best political spin on this, and the political spin for them is true.
Hunter Biden was involved in a lot of issues regarding foreign entities, a lot of money changed hands. There's been a lot of allegations about who knew what, why were they getting this money, foreign entanglements. And so for them to continue to talk about this, they think there's a direct link to Joe Biden.
And so I suspect it's going to be an ongoing topic for the Republicans. I'm glad the judge, as a Republican, stood up for herself on this and didn't get steamrolled. This foreign lobbying issue. It's a real issue. It’s a real criminal law. And there are legitimate questions about whether he skirted that one as long – along with the tax laws he evaded.
ERICA HILL: So it was also clear yesterday that this is still an ongoing investigation which is part of why–
JENNINGS: Yeah.
HILL: --This plea agreement fell apart. You know, our good friend Shan Wu pointing out today, there was sort of a little win in this pause for both sides. Yes, Republicans can continue to talk about it. But the fact too that this is an ongoing investigation, that may actually make it harder in some cases for Republicans to get some of the information that they're after.
JOHN AVLON: That may indeed be the case. But it really illustrates the fundamental sort of mislawyering that occurred. Which is, the Hunter Biden defense team thought everything was going to be covered with very little basis. And this, you know, this plea agreement essentially was about taxes and guns, and they thought it would cover everything. And there was very little reason for them to suggest, to believe that, especially given that as you pointed out earlier, you know, the David Weiss, the prosecutor appointed by the Trump administration originally, said there was an ongoing investigation. They apparently hadn't clarified that. So this is a bit of a pause.
Republicans will look for political gain. There may very well be reasons to investigate the larger questions of money further, but this was a fundamental fear of lawyering with a lot of political implications. But don't expect Republicans to have fidelity to the facts of the case over the narrative they're trying to pursue and the investigations that probably should occur.
JENNINGS: Well, they would say that the facts of the case haven't been fully given to the public. I mean, they, Republicans on Capitol Hill, think there's a lot of information here that’s being hidden from the public. It's why they had the whistle-blowers come to Congress. I heard you say you’re going to interview one. I think that’s --
HARLOW: Yeah, Joseph Ziegler will be here in the 8:00 A.M. Hour.
JENNINGS: I think that’s great. And so, for as long as this has been going on, Republicans have believed a lot of things are being hidden from the public to protect Joe Biden, and so more facts are coming out, and that's a good thing. Transparency here for Joe Biden. He's the president. It's deserved.
[…]
