John Ratcliffe: Judge in Hunter Biden case should not accept plea deal agreement
Former director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe weighs in on the Hunter Biden case amid additional whistleblower allegations on 'Sunday Night in America.'
Former Director of National intelligence and U.S. attorney John Ratcliffe joined "Sunday Night in America" to discuss news of Hunter Biden's expected plea deal agreement, as the son of President Joe Biden plans to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts and a gun charge, leaving questions over Attorney General Merrick Garland's Justice Department's handling of the case.
"Sunday Night in America" host Trey Gowdy first raised concerns over the handling of Hunter's case.
"Failing to pay taxes on time and lying on an application to purchase a gun are not complicated. On the tax counts, you literally just need a calendar and a question: Did you pay your taxes by this date? On the gun charge. It's one question: Did you lie on the application to buy a gun? If you were really lazy, it might take five weeks, but if you're the president's son, it takes much longer, why?"
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Gowdy noted that the case's length of five years might raise eyebrows about whether more serious charges were contemplated and then rejected and expressed concerns about whether Hunter was treated better or worse than others facing similar charges.
Hunter Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland were both seen at a White House state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday, June 23, 2023. (Getty Images)
Former Texas congressman Ratcliffe (R) also expressed skepticism on the case's handling, pointing out that the judge involved in the plea deal agreement should examine all of Hunter's conduct before accepting the proposed plea deal.
"The judge in this case shouldn't accept the plea, because, as you know, judges are required to look at all of the defendant's conduct. And in this case, you start with some of that conduct being on videotape and showing felony possession of a firearm while using a controlled substance, that's a felony that carries a maximum penalty of ten years.," Ratcliffe said.
"The judge is going to be aware of whistleblower testimony, that the very prosecutors in this case, according to the whistleblower, did more than exercised prosecutorial discretion, they obstructed parts of this investigation, including shutting down an investigation into a WhatsApp text message that shows that the vice president's son and possibly the vice president threatened a Chinese businessman with ties to the Chinese Communist Party and received a $5 million payment a few days later."
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Ratcliffe added that recent additional allegations made by whistleblowers into Hunter's case merit consideration before a plea deal is accepted, adding that a judge could reject a plea deal for such reasons.
Attorney General, Merrick Garland, has claimed that the U.S. attorney involved in the case had "more authority" than a special counsel would have had, insinuating that the prosecutor had chosen not to indict certain conduct.
However, Ratcliffe challenged this, stating that the whistleblower risked "personal liberty" to testify that "Garland's Department of Justice shut down lines of questioning into Hunter and Joe Biden."
Robert Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden at Carlingford Castle, Co Louth, during his trip to the island of Ireland. Picture date: Wednesday April 12, 2023. (Brian Lawless/PA Images via Getty Images)
Ratcliffe also encouraged members of Congress to examine whistleblower allegations into Hunter's case and investigate the treatment disparity between Hunter and former President Donald Trump, suggesting that there is a stark contrast between the two.
"How can [Garland] reconcile the treatment of two presidential candidates and in one case, his boss, that presidential candidate, his son, a five-year investigation into very dubious conduct that everyone can see should have resulted in a felony, instead, after five-years results in misdemeanors. Whereas on the other hand, his boss's primary political rival, it took seven months to come up with charges totaling 400 years," Ratcliffe said.
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