White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday sharply rebuffed the notion of President Biden pardoning his son Hunter Biden, who is working out another plea deal with the Justice Department over an investigation of evading taxes.
When asked by a reporter if there is any possibility the president would end up pardoning his son, Jean-Pierre replied sharply: "No."
When the reporter began asking a follow-up question, Jean-Pierre interrupted him and said, "I just said no," and moved on to another reporter.
It was a rare moment in which the White House gave a definitive answer to any question involving Hunter Biden's legal troubles. It came one day after the president's son appeared at a federal court in Delaware, where an initial plea deal was scrambled by the end of a nearly three-hour court hearing.
The White House spent that day sidestepping questions over Hunter Biden’s legal dilemma.
“Hunter Biden is a private citizen, and this was a personal matter,” Jean-Pierre said Wednesday. “As we have said, the president, the first lady, they love their son, and they support him as he continues to rebuild his life.”
The White House has stressed the Justice Department (DOJ) acts independently, referring questions to the agency, and stressing the case with Hunter Biden was overseen by a prosecutor appointed by former President Trump.
On Thursday, Jean-Pierre also firmly stated the DOJ was operating independently when asked if the president has ever pushed for preferential treatment for himself, his family, members of his administration or former President Trump.
Hunter Biden on Wednesday was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay income taxes as part of a deal announced last month with the Justice Department.
Biden instead pleaded not guilty on Wednesday and the plea deal involving tax and gun charges was put on hold when the judge presiding over the case questioned the parameters of the agreement.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) had what appeared to be a moment of confusion Thursday as she began delivering a speech instead of voting during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.
During a roll call vote on the defense appropriations bill Thursday morning, Feinstein started to give a speech in support of the measure. Shortly after, a staffer and committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) cut her off, asking her to simply “say aye.”
"I would like to support a yes vote on this, it provides $823 billion. That’s an increase of $26 billion for the Department of Defense and it funds priorities submitted…” Feinstein said as a staffer cut her off and told her, “Just vote ‘Aye.’”
A Feinstein spokesperson attributed the moment to a markup that was "a little chaotic."
"Trying to complete all of the appropriations bills before recess, the committee markup this morning was a little chaotic, constantly switching back and forth between statements, votes, and debate and the order of bills. The senator was preoccupied, didn’t realize debate had just ended and a vote was called. She started to give a statement, was informed it was a vote and then cast her vote," the spokesperson said.
Feinstein, 90, announced earlier this year that she will not run for another term in office and subsequently missed more than two months of work as she recovered from a serious case of shingles.
She has been back at work consistently in recent months and has been using a wheelchair to get around the Capitol complex.
However, Feinstein has had multiple visible instances of confusion. Earlier this year, she told reporters only moments after announcing her 2024 plans that she had not decided or made public whether to seek another term. And shortly after returning to the Capitol, she told reporters, "I haven’t been gone. I’ve been working.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is warning Republicans against falling into the “trap” of impeachment after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) signaled earlier this week that the House could move forward with an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
“It’s not good for the republic to keep impeaching presidents and indicting presidents,” Paul said in an interview on Fox Business Network's “Mornings with Maria.”
“All this stuff is destructive,” he added.
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday night, McCarthy said the House GOP’s investigations into the Biden family’s foreign business activities are “rising to the level of impeachment inquiry,” but clarified no decision had been made.
“The other side [Democrats] says, ‘Oh they want to, they’re for preserving democracy.’ They’re pitting everyone against each other and they’re destroying the fabric of our republic, so I think we have to be careful not to fall into the same trap,” Paul said.
Former President Trump was impeached twice by a majority-Democratic House during his four-year term. Republicans in the Senate acquitted Trump in both instances.
Paul is among several Republican lawmakers who have pushed back against McCarthy’s comments. That group also includes Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who called the remarks “impeachment theater” meant to distract from budget negotiations, and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), who told reporters, “No one is seriously talking about impeachment.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) speaks to a reporters as he arrives to the Capitol for a procedural vote regarding a nomination on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. (Greg Nash)
In a statement exclusively obtained by The Hill, the White House said McCarthy’s suggestion is “a ridiculous, baseless stunt, intended to attack the President at a time when House Republicans should instead be joining the President to focus on the important issues facing the American people.”
In his interview with Hannity, McCarthy accused Biden of using the “weaponization of government to benefit his family and deny Congress the ability to have oversight.”
Republican skepticism over the Biden family’s foreign business activities was boosted last week when Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) released an FBI form containing unverified allegations of corruption connected to Hunter Biden’s business with Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
The White House has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the matter, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated Monday that Biden was never in business with his son.
A Morning Consult poll conducted June 22-24 found 30 percent of register voters believe it should be a “top priority” for Congress to investigate whether Biden should be impeached, including 11 percent of Democrats, 24 percent of independents and 55 percent of Republicans.
House Republican leaders punted plans to pass an appropriations bill to fund agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to September amid internal discord about funding levels and policy gripes, canceling Friday floor votes and starting August recess a day early.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) announced on the House floor that votes would no longer be expected Friday.
“We will be finished for the August work period” after last votes Thursday afternoon, Scalise said.
The move to punt the bill comes as House conservatives have pressured GOP leaders to further slash the funding levels in the bill — and in other funding bills. Moderate lawmakers, meanwhile, have taken issue with a provision in the ag-FDA legislation that would limit access to an abortion pill.
Punting a bill sets up a September scramble to fund the government after the House returns from a six-week recess. The House is scheduled to be in session for just 12 days before a Sept. 30 funding deadline.
Senate appropriators are also marking up spending bills at levels higher than the House GOP is, laying the foundation for a clash between the two chambers in the fall.
Indications that the ag-FDA bill would be punted emerged Wednesday, when the House Rules Committee — which had been preparing the bill to come to the floor — did not come back to finish considering legislation Wednesday evening as negotiations between conservatives and leadership continued.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House GOP appropriators had already agreed to set overall top-line spending levels lower than the caps set out in the debt limit bill that McCarthy negotiated with President Biden. That infuriated Democrats, who pledge to vote against the House funding bills — leaving McCarthy in the difficult position of getting the slim GOP majority on board with the bills to pass them alone.
The House on Thursday passed its first appropriations bill to fund military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs largely along party lines.
Another point of contention in the ag-FDA bill is a provision that would nullify a Biden administration rule allowing the abortion pill mifepristone to be sold in retail pharmacies and by mail with prescriptions from a certified health care provider.
Moderate Republicans have been vocal in their opposition to the provision, warning that they will not support the bill unless it is stripped.
But one GOP lawmaker suggested those who object to the mifepristone measure are in no hurry to take it out because it gives them a reason to “delay the whole damn thing” amid disagreement with the Freedom Caucus members and other conservatives pushing for cuts.
“Freedom Caucus wants deeper cuts, we can’t possibly accept that,” the GOP lawmaker told The Hill.
House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) tore into Republicans for delaying the vote and piling up spending bill votes in September, arguing that lawmakers should stay in Washington to strip out the "divisive" measures in the bills.
"Extremists are holding your conference hostage," Clark said.
"This is a reckless march to a MAGA shutdown," she added.
GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie is calling for a special counsel to be appointed to oversee investigations into the dealings of the Biden family one day after a plea deal for Hunter Biden spectacularly collapsed.
"The attorney general has to appoint a special counsel tomorrow," Christie said on "Making Money with Charles Payne." "Get this out of the hands of the Joe Biden Justice Department. Put it in the hands of a special counsel. That's what should have happened right at the beginning, in my opinion. And it absolutely needs to happen now."
"This is a charade. Get rid of US Attorney Weiss & appoint a special counsel who will investigate with competence and independence," the former New Jersey governor said on Twitter.
Christie spoke after a plea deal, in which Biden was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax and therefore avoid jail time on a felony gun charge, fell apart on Tuesday.
The judge refused to accept the deal as prosecutors revealed that the president’s son is still under federal investigation. The judge raised constitutional concerns about the diversion deal, in which Biden could be charged with the gun charge if he breached the deal.
Christie, himself a former prosecutor, agreed with the judge’s view of the deal.
"I looked at that plea deal and it made no sense. Give somebody two misdemeanor tax counts, dismiss a gun charge, and give them immunity. For what? And I think that's exactly what the judge said, that this makes no sense," he said.
"No one could explain it, then the government backs off and says 'Well he's not really immune for other stuff.’ The defense says, ‘wait a second, I thought we were’ and we're off to the races."
Christie said a special counsel, if appointed, would have the authority of the attorney general to investigate as they see fit.
"So the authority is incredibly broad, and he doesn't need, or she doesn't need the approval of anybody to bring the charges, as we're seeing with the Special Counsel Jack Smith, on the Trump stuff," he said. "There should be exactly the same thing."
He also warned that if Biden were involved in his son's business dealings, it could open a lane for an impeachment inquiry of the president.
"And what's this mean for President Biden? More and more investigation into Hunter's business dealings, which there should be. And if [POTUS] has any connection to them and that can be proven, then an impeachment inquiry probably would be appropriate," he said.
The White House, meanwhile, has continued to say it respects the independence of the DOJ and that there has been no interference from the president on behalf of his son.
"Hunter Biden is a private citizen, and this was a personal matter for him. As we have said, the president, the first lady — they love their son and they support him as he continues to rebuild his life," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday. "This case was handled independently, as all of you know, by the Justice Department under the leadership of a prosecutor appointed by the former president, President Trump."
Fox News' Brooke Singman and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) sharply rebuked a suggestion from Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) that President Biden’s national drug control strategy is flawed because it does not mention God or faith, calling that idea “preposterous” in a hearing Thursday.
In a hearing examining the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s efforts to combat the overdose crisis, Raskin argued that mentioning God or faith would violate the U.S. Constitution, which specifically prohibits Congress from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.
“The gentleman is somehow looking for some kind of religious test, which is explicitly forbidden in the Constitution [for] people for public office, in the drug control strategy,” Raskin said, referring to Gosar. “Surely, [faith] can make a difference in terms of people's individual lives and individual paths to recovery. People will derive sources of strength from many different places, including religious faith, including their friends and their family, including psychology and so on.”
“But the idea that our drug strategy is flawed because it doesn't put religion in the center seems to me to be preposterous,” said Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight panel.
Raskin was responding to Gosar’s criticism that the Biden administration’s drug control strategy is flawed, at least in part, because it does not mention God and faith.
“Biden's National Drug Control Strategy is 150 pages. The words ‘God’ and ‘faith’ are not mentioned one time. People need a purpose to be happy,” Gosar said, before seeming to suggest there was a connection between greater government assistance, a lack of faith in God and a rise in drug overdoses.
Gosar quoted Democratic long-shot presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in saying “unemployment kills,” and added, “The left offers endless benefits. In other words, dependency. Because dependent population votes for the providers of those benefits. But a human being needs a purpose — a good job, the ability to provide for a family, a belief in a creator — in order to be happy.”
House Republicans on Thursday passed their first government funding bill, overcoming an initial hurdle in Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) attempts to wrangle the GOP conference to approve all 12 appropriations bills amid intense pressure from conservatives to lower spending levels.
The bill — which allocates funding for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and related agencies — passed in a 219-211 vote. Two Republicans — Reps. Tim Burchett (Tenn.) and Ken Buck (Colo.) — voted with every Democrat against the measure.
The package now heads to the Senate, where it is dead on arrival. Senate appropriators are marking up their spending bills at levels different from the House GOP measures, setting the scene for a chamber vs. chamber showdown in the fall.
Lawmakers have until Sept. 30 to send President Biden legislation to fund the government or risk a shutdown.
In an effort to appease conservatives, House GOP appropriations marked up their spending bills at fiscal 2022 levels, below the caps set in the debt ceiling deal struck by President Biden and McCarthy. The Senate, on the other hand, is considering its appropriations measures at levels in line with the debt limit agreement.
Republicans have also pursued amendments Democrats have blasted as “poison pills” in the military construction bill and the other 12 annual funding bills, including policies targeting the Biden administration's orders on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as restricting abortion access.
While Republican leaders saw success Thursday in mustering enough support to pass the Milcon-VA bill, they were also forced to punt consideration of another appropriations bill amid internal divisions over spending and a controversial provision.
The chamber was scheduled to vote on funding legislation for agriculture, rural development and the Food and Drug Administration this week, but party leaders scrapped those plans Thursday afternoon as disagreements continued to plague the measure’s passage.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) announced on the floor Thursday that the final votes this week would be in the afternoon.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., joined at right by Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., arrives for a news conference after a meeting of the Republican Conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Conservatives are pushing for steeper funding cuts in the legislation, and moderates are opposed to a provision that would nullify a Biden administration rule allowing the abortion pill mifepristone to be sold in retail pharmacies and by mail with prescriptions from a certified health care provider.
On the Milcon-VA bill, GOP negotiatorsproposed more than $317 billion in funding, which includes increases for the VA above current levels. The bill also calls for more than $130 billion for veterans’ medical care and a boost for Department of Defense military construction projects.
In a statement earlier this week, the White House said it appreciates the $121 billion in funding that appropriators proposed for VA medical care. The Biden administration said the funding would help support its priorities to end veteran homelessness and expand access to mental health care, among other measures.
But the administration did not hold back its criticism of policies in the bill it said would prevent VA medical centers from being able to perform abortions or “provide hormone therapies for the purpose of gender-affirming care.”
Other measures the White House criticized include sections Democrats say would prevent the VA from displaying LGBTQ pride flags and language that would limit administration efforts to advance equity and diversity.
Burchett, one of the two Republicans to vote against the Milcon-VA appropriations bill, pointed to the ballooning debt in the U.S. in explaining his opposition to the legislation.
“Love the veterans: daddy fought for his country, my momma lost a brother fighting the Nazis, dad fought the Japanese, my momma flew an airplane during the Second World War, but we are $32 trillion in debt,” he said.
Republicans are expected to ramp up efforts to pass the remaining funding bills when they return from recess in September. But the House faces a serious time crunch, with the chamber scheduled to have just 12 legislative days on the calendar before a shutdown deadline at the end of September.
Scalise suggested Tuesday that bicameral negotiations could take place over the long August recess, but negotiators haven’t signaled any bipartisan talks are scheduled to happen before lawmakers are set to come back.
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said on Tuesday that the Four Corners — the top leaders of both chambers’ respective appropriations committees — haven’t recently had formal talks, but her “goal is to have conferences.”
She told reporters she’s hopeful the Senate will begin bringing its appropriations bills to the floor “at the very first week in September.”
“I believe we should do everything to avoid a shutdown,” she said.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) is calling on House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) to "publicly reprimand" Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) after the congresswoman during a hearing showed explicit photos of Hunter Biden engaged in sex acts — a display that was sharply rebuked by Democrats.
In a letter to Comer on Wednesday, Raskin — the top Democrat on the Oversight panel — said Greene's display at last week's hearing "clearly violated House rules,” pointing to congressional decorum.
"I therefore urge you to publicly reprimand Rep. Greene by issuing a statement condemning her actions as an affront to the dignity, propriety, and decorum of the Committee," he added.
Raskin also asked Comer to announce that "explicit pornographic images of people engaging in sex acts" like the ones Greene displayed will not be allowed to be shown during congressional proceedings without "clear legislative relevance, prior approval from both the Majority and Minority, and written consent from any individual featured in the exhibit."
Greene displayed the images during an Oversight Committee hearing last week that featured testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who allege prosecutors slow-walked the investigation into Hunter Biden, President Biden's son.
During her allotted time for questions, the congresswoman held up posters that showed graphic sexual photos from the laptop hard drive that allegedly belonged to Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden’s face was visible in the photos, but others in the images involved in the sex acts had their faces censored with black boxes.
Greene alleged Hunter Biden improperly utilized his company to write off payments made to prostitutes. IRS special agent Joseph Ziegler, one of the whistleblowers testifying, would not confirm the claim. But he said deductions were made that were believed to be for escorts, and a payment that was made out to be for a golf membership was actually for a “sex club.”
Comer has not publicly condemned or criticized Greene for the photos. And on Tuesday, he and Greene sent a letter to Justice Department (DOJ) officials expressing concern that “DOJ disregarded the victims who were sexually exploited by Hunter Biden,” pointing to testimony from last week’s hearing.
“Congressional testimony indicates that Hunter Biden paid prostitutes — victims — and used such payments as tax expenses for one of his companies,” the letter reads.
The pair went on to ask to “analyze legislation that penalizes federal prosecutors who do not uphold victims’ rights — regardless of the defendant’s last name or political affiliation — and ensures that funds designed for victim related programs are used appropriately by DOJ.”
In a statement responding to Raskin’s letter, Comer cited “the young women” Hunter Biden “involved in his illegal activities.”
“It speaks to Ranking Member Raskin’s priorities that he is more concerned about Hunter Biden’s embarrassment than the young women he involved in his illegal activities. I hope Ranking Member Raskin will join me in asking the Justice Department about Hunter Biden’s Mann Act violations and why the victims’ rights have been ignored,” Comer said in a statement.
Raskin on Wednesday criticized Comer for failing to condemn Greene for her display.
“Your failure to halt Rep. Greene’s display of pornographic photography during Committee proceedings undermines the integrity of this Committee and the House of Representatives,” he wrote.
“During an interview, you had an opportunity to disavow her lewd display, but instead you further undermined the integrity of this Committee by dismissing its significance and expressing only support for her actions,” he later added. “Just today, when asked about a picture of Rep. Greene’s graphic posters that showed you in the background, you glibly told a Politico journalist you ‘wished that it had been taken from the opposite angle and gotten Glen[n] Grothman in the background instead of me.’”
The Maryland Democrat warned that if Comer does not condemn Greene for her actions, he would be setting a poor precedent.
“It is incumbent upon you to make clear that Rep. Greene’s use of pornographic images at a public hearing clearly violated House rules and to ensure that we are not subject to repeated incidents or similarly unacceptable actions in future hearings,” Raskin wrote. “If this was acceptable for Rep. Greene, you are establishing it as acceptable for all Members.”
Adding to the criticism, Hunter Biden’s lawyer last week filed an ethics complaint against Greene, requesting that the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) “immediately” initiate a review of the Georgia Republican’s conduct.
The OCE is a nonpartisan, independent entity that was established by the House. It reviews allegations of misconduct involving lawmakers, officers and House staffers and, if warranted, refers matters to the Ethics Committee.
The federal grand jury investigating election interference convened Tuesday in Washington D.C., spurring speculation that a possible federal indictment related to the investigation into Jan. 6 against former President Trump may be imminent, Fox News has learned.
Sources told Fox News that the grand jury left the federal courthouse for the day just after 2:00pm on Tuesday afternoon.
Trump's legal team met with Special Counsel Jack Smith and his team in Washington D.C. last week. Sources told Fox News that Trump's legal team was not given any specific timing about a possible indictment, but that they heard nothing suggesting an indictment would not happen at some point.
After the meeting ended last Thursday, the former president posted on his Truth Social account:
"My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country," Trump wrote. "No indication of notice was given during the meeting — Do not trust the Fake News on anything!"
Trump, who is leading the 2024 GOP presidential primary field, announced last week that he had received a target letter from the Justice Department, which also asked that he report to the federal grand jury. Trump said he anticipated "an arrest and indictment."
"They’re in a rush because they want to interfere. It’s interference with the election — it’s election interference," Trump said during a town hall on Fox News with Sean Hannity last week. "Never been done like this in the history of our country, and it is a disgrace what’s happening to our country — whether it is the borders or the elections or kinds of things like this, where the DOJ has become a weapon for the Democrats."
He added: "An absolute weapon."
Smith has been investigating whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.
On Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress that was working to certify the Electoral College results in favor of President Biden.
The House of Representatives drafted articles of impeachment against Trump and ultimately voted to impeach him on a charge of inciting an insurrection for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — making him the first and only president in history to be impeached, and ultimately acquitted, twice.
The Senate voted to acquit, but had Trump been convicted, the Senate would have moved to bar the 45th president from holding federal office ever again, preventing a 2024 White House run.
Trump was indicted in June on charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records after his presidency. Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 counts including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.
That indictment was the first time in U.S. history that a former president had faced federal criminal charges.
Lawyers for former President Trump met with Special Counsel Jack Smith and his team in Washington D.C. Thursday in anticipation of a possible federal indictment related to the investigation into Jan. 6, Fox News has learned.
The meeting took place on the same day that the federal grand jury was expected to meet at a federal courthouse in Washington, spurring speculation an indictment may be imminent.
Trump, who is leading the 2024 GOP presidential primary field, announced last week that he received a target letter from the Justice Department, which also asked that he report to the federal grand jury. Trump said he anticipated "an arrest and indictment."
"They’re in a rush because they want to interfere. It’s interference with the election — it’s election interference," Trump said during a town hall on Fox News with Sean Hannity last week. "Never been done like this in the history of our country, and it is a disgrace what’s happening to our country — whether it is the borders or the elections or kinds of things like this, where the DOJ has become a weapon for the Democrats."
He added: "An absolute weapon."
Smith has been investigating whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.
On Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress that was working to certify the Electoral College results in favor of President Biden.
The House of Representatives drafted articles of impeachment against Trump and ultimately voted to impeach him on a charge of inciting an insurrection for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — making him the first and only president in history to be impeached, and ultimately acquitted, twice.
The Senate voted to acquit, but had Trump been convicted, the Senate would have moved to bar the 45th president from holding federal office ever again, preventing a 2024 White House run.
Trump was indicted in June on charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records after his presidency. Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 counts including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.
That indictment was the first time in U.S. history that a former president had faced federal criminal charges.
