Friday afternoon began with a bang as Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland made a move to further protect President Biden, Hunter Biden, and his own tail by giving David Weiss the title of special counsel (while also keeping U.S. Attorney status) to further investigate Hunter.
As CBS’s Catherine Herridge and others sniffed out, Garland’s decision after the collapse of the plea deal between Hunter and the Justice Department encases damaging evidence and shields Weiss from having to appear before Congress. That didn’t matter to ABC, though. Instead, chief Biden apple polisher Mary Bruce and anti-Trump author Jonathan Karl were beside themselves.
Hosting ABC’s network special, Kyra Phillips fretted that President Biden and the “First Lady have been very careful about what they have said about this investigation and what they have said about their son” and instead emphasized that “they support” and “love him.”
Bruce fretted that while “the White House, this President certainly had hoped they were moving past all of this,” things have changed. Given how in touch she is with her allies in the White House, Bruce boasted the White House has always “stress[ed] the independence of this investigation” with Biden “never” having “discussed this...with” Garland.
Bruce kicked into overdrive, bemoaning that Hunter’s life of ruin “has become a political lightning rod” and thus “[h]e doesn’t want to say anything that is going to give fuel to the Republicans, fuel to his critics who have been eager to pounce on this issue, which is why you have heard the President not comment at all on the substance of these of this investigation, but rather simply always reiterate his support for his son.”
Biden should just kick Karine Jean-Pierre to the curb given how undying Bruce would be if she took the podium and offer defenses like this [emphasis mine]:
We know that Joe Biden is a devoted father. He has stood by Hunter throughout his struggles with addiction, throughout this investigation, always adamant that he did nothing wrong. And it is important to note that, you know, after five years of investigating, so far, they have not brought any charges linked to Hunter’s business dealings, anything to substantiate the Republican claims about Hunter’s business contacts. And of course, we have not seen any smoking gun at all, despite this investigation and the investigations on the Hill that has connected this back to the President at all.
Phillips then went to Karl, who’s both a longtime ABC correspondent and soon-to-be three-time anti-Trump author. Karl turned his guns on Weiss, not Hunter Biden or the Biden family for their behavior having resulted in this storm.
“This certainly raises the question of why. Why did Weiss decide to ask for this after just a couple of weeks ago, he was trying to wrap it all up with a plea deal? Was there more evidence? Certainly that’s a question Republicans are going to be asking,” Karl huffed.
He then added: “This will add fuel to that fire on Capitol Hill. Say — they will say that they were right about the seriousness of this. It also raises questions about how long this is now going to go.”
Karl closed with fire aimed at Republicans, whining people have been looking at the Biden family for “five years” and “found nothing” (which is pants-on-fire stupid), but in spite of that, Garland gave “[n]ew life to this investigation” and clearance for Republicans to act more “forcefully” and “not be placated.”
Tossing to ABC producer John Santucci, Phillips had a lament of her own: “What does this mean for Trump? And doesn’t it just fuel the Republican fire to discredit president Biden 100 percent here?”
Bruce and Karl stuck around on ABC News Live once the ABC News Special Report. Bruce again played Jean-Pierre stand-in by fretting Republicans and Donald Trump “are very eager to pounce on this issue” even though Biden’s “a devoted father” and has always spoke about Hunter as such, “not as a President, not as a politician” (click “expand”):
The White House isn’t commenting yet. We will see what they say about this in the hours to come. This White House, though, has long stressed the independence of this investigation and I suspect, when they do comment, they will highlight the fact that appointing a special counsel is done to even further highlight that independence. You know, you often hear them note that the President has never discussed this case with the attorney general at all and that is because the President knows just how political charged this investigation is. He knows that his Republican critics, his top Republican rival in 2024 election, are very eager to pounce on this issue and the President doesn’t want to say anything that’s going to fuel that criticism.
Instead, when the President has talked about this, he has always spoken as a father, not as a President, not as a politician. You hear him always stress and reinforce his love for his son, his support for son. Joe Biden is a devoted father. He speaks often about his children publicly. And so, I think you will continue to see some kind of statement along that vein, but there is no question that this White House had been very much so hoping that they were moving past all of this. That is clearly not the case today given the fact that this — that Weiss has been named a special counsel. It is only going to fuel and only going to, I suspect, give Republicans even more fodder for their criticism in their investigations of this. We have seen how Donald Trump has seized on this issue heading into the election. So, despite the fact that there is yet to be any smoking gun linking any of Hunter Biden’s bushiness dealings back to the President, this is an issue that this White House is going to have to continue to tackle and tangle with.
As for Karl, he made sure to downplay and spin away the Biden legal perils because none of the Bidens face “investigations” and “a series of criminal charges” to the “level of seriousness” that Trump faces.
To see the relevant ABC transcript from August 11, click “expand.”
ABC News Special Report
August 11, 2023
12:25 p.m. EasternKYRA PHILLIPS: Mary, the President and First Lady have been very careful about what they have said about this investigation and what they have said about their son. They just say they support him. They love him. But does this change that? Do they now need to say more? Will they say more?
MARY BRUCE: Well, look, the White House, this President certainly had hoped they were moving past all of this. And we have long seen the President and the white house stress the independence of this investigation. You’ll often hear them say that the President has never discussed this case with the attorney general. And the President is well aware that this has become a political lightning rod. He doesn’t want to say anything that is going to give fuel to the Republicans, fuel to his critics who have been eager to pounce on this issue, which is why you have heard the President not comment at all on the substance of these of this investigation, but rather simply always reiterate his support for his son. We know that Joe Biden is a devoted father. He has stood by Hunter throughout his struggles with addiction, throughout this investigation, always adamant that he did nothing wrong. And it is important to note that, you know, after five years of investigating, so far, they have not brought any charges linked to Hunter’s business dealings, anything to substantiate the Republican claims about Hunter’s business contacts. And of course, we have not seen any smoking gun at all, despite this investigation and the investigations on the Hill that has connected this back to the President at all. And the White House insists that Biden wasn’t in business with his son, but obviously there is still more to investigate here. And the President’s hopes that they were turning a page on this, well, that’s not happening.
PHILLIPS: Let’s take it now to chief Washington correspondent Jon Karl. Jon, does this mean there could be more evidence or does this just give Weiss more independence to do his investigation? And then how is that going to fold in to the upcoming election? And just the credibility of the President?
KARL: This certainly raises the question of why. Why did Weiss decide to ask for this after just a couple of weeks ago, he was trying to wrap it all up with a plea deal? Was there more evidence? Certainly that’s a question Republicans are going to be asking. This will add fuel to that fire on Capitol Hill. Say — they will say that they were right about the seriousness of this. It also raises questions about how long this is now going to go. The Hunter Biden legal team, the White House, Democrats in Congress, they had all believed, hoped, maybe, but certainly believed that this was just about over and they could say it was done. The investigation’s five years. They found nothing. Now? New life to this investigation. And then the question is the Republicans, how do they react to this? And I believe that you will see Republicans forcefully, you know, add more to their investigation on Capitol Hill. They will not be placated by this. They will say this shows that there’s a lot more there.
PHILLIPS: Then let’s take it to ABC News executive editorial producer, John Santucci. What does this mean for Trump? And doesn’t it just fuel the Republican fire to discredit president Biden 100 percent here?
JOHN SANTUCCI: 100 percent, Kyra.
(....)
ABC News Live
August 11, 2023
12:32 p.m. EasternBRUCE: The White House isn’t commenting yet. We will see what they say about this in the hours to come. This White House, though, has long stressed the independence of this investigation and I suspect, when they do comment, they will highlight the fact that appointing a special counsel is done to even further highlight that independence. You know, you often hear them note that the President has never discussed this case with the attorney general at all and that is because the President knows just how political charged this investigation is. He knows that his Republican critics, his top Republican rival in 2024 election, are very eager to pounce on this issue and the President doesn’t want to say anything that’s going to fuel that criticism. Instead, when the President has talked about this, he has always spoken as a father, not as a President, not as a politician. You hear him always stress and reinforce his love for his son, his support for son. Joe Biden is a devoted father. He speaks often about his children publicly. And so, I think you will continue to see some kind of statement along that vein, but there is no question that this White House had been very much so hoping that they were moving past all of this. That is clearly not the case today given the fact that this — that Weiss has been named a special counsel. It is only going to fuel and only going to, I suspect, give Republicans even more fodder for their criticism in their investigations of this. We have seen how Donald Trump has seized on this issue heading into the election. So, despite the fact that there is yet to be any smoking gun linking any of Hunter Biden’s bushiness dealings back to the President, this is an issue that this White House is going to have to continue to tackle and tangle with.
(....)
12:37 p.m. Eastern
RHIANNON ALLY: President Biden running for reelection, obviously, what's the political impact here and how does it compare to the legal trouble former President Trump is facing?
KARL: Well, first of all, you asked a very important question of Olivia, which is, was this driven by new evidence? We don't know. We don't know why he wanted this designation, but look, just couple of weeks ago, David Weiss was in court trying to wrap all up with a plea deal on a, you know, relatively minor regarding taxes, a diversion agreement on the gun charge that would have allowed Hunter Biden to have immunity and no jail time whatsoever. So, the fact that now he is seeking and has received by the attorney general this new designation, you know, raises that question why? And one thing that I think you can safely assume here is this does not — this means that this investigation is not over any soon. You don't go and get a new designation like this as you are ending an investigation. This would suggest something of a new phase to this investigation. As far as for the political impact, look, this is nothing like the investigations regarding Donald Trump. Donald Trump is — is facing a series of criminal charges that are a level of seriousness far beyond dealing with the President's son. But, you know, Republicans are going to use this as evidence that they are entirely correct in pursuing their investigations of Hunter Biden in the House of Representatives. They will say that, look, even Biden's Justice Department agreed that there was enough here that it warranted the appointment of a special counsel, that this investigation has a long way to go. So I think Republicans will not in any way be placated by this, but they will use this point to this as evidence that there's a lot more to learn about Hunter Biden.
