While ABC, CBS, and NBC dryly and seriously addressed the new Hunter Biden indictment on tax charges in California, MSNBC’s Morning Joe didn't discuss the new Hunter indictment until a half-hour had elapsed, and then they implied this shouldn’t have happened.
Co-host Willie Geist walked legal analyst Lisa Rubin through all the reasons not to prosecute. Hunter repaid the tax debt, “maybe not by him specifically, but they were repaid.” And not in a timely manner, Rubin added, but “Hunter’s tax liability has been cleared."
Rubin then explained that back when Hunter’s plea deal collapsed, she told the MSNBC anchor that other people would have never been prosecuted for this, so the fact that these charges are added “shows me that there is a two-tiered system of justice, it just doesn’t go the way Donald Trump thinks it does."
Then Geist said to Rubin: “Republicans in the House want to make this about Joe Biden. My question legally to you is, is there anything in this filing, anything in these charges that show a connection between hunter Biden and president Joe Biden?” She said she didn’t know the “nitty gritty” of the indictment yet, but “as far as I understand it, no. The question also is, could the president be asked to testify here? I don't think he could be compelled to testify in this trial.”
Geist turned to Jonathan Lemire for support: “There will be a conflation by Republicans. See, Hunter Biden committed crimes. Joe Biden, “the Biden crime family,' et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But again, there has not been -- that link has not been drawn yet." Lemire agreed: No, it hasn't. There's yet to be any evidence that President Biden had anything to do with the criminal charges his son now faces."
On MSNBC, they quickly turned to the tired false line that there's no connection between Hunter's illegal activities and his dad. Lisa Rubin's been too busy obsessing over Trump trials to really have an opinion, but Willie Geist and Jon Lemire tap-danced on the Biden denial line. pic.twitter.com/AY9F7xWkjT
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) December 8, 2023
They're so energetically doing Democrat Talk that they can't acknowledge that all of Hunter's millions came from selling access to his father. Joe Biden obviously knew his son was selling access. He cooperated with it, and met with his clients. next? Lemire then made a speech that this indictment is "not a coincidence." (Like Biden's Justice Department is working with Republicans?)
LEMIRE: What is happening next week? House Republicans are moving forward with the impeachment inquiry. They're gonna get that formal vote. We heard from Speaker Johnson yesterday. Believing it will pass, that he has enough votes to bring it forward. Now this doesn't necessarily mean impeachment but it could certainly head that way. And this is all about establishing an equivalency. A false equivalency between what people by the last name of Trump have done and what people with the last name of Biden have done. Hunter Biden himself is not running for office. Hunter Biden himself has never held a government position. There's yet to be any evidence that President Biden has done any wrongdoing.
Donald Trump, of course, is running for office and has 91 counts and four indictments facing him. But Willie, this is their play here. They’re trying to muddy the waters. It’s very clear that Trump is trying allege mis-doings by Hunter Biden, and also to not be the only president impeached running for office next year.
Mika Brzezinski wrapped up by repeating the anti-GOP line: "They keep trying. Even when there is absolutely no -- there is no parallel at all. It's the president's son, versus many crimes by a former president alleged, and some he completely admits to out in the open."
