The findings of a new poll suggest a growing number of Americans have doubts about the integrity of the criminal investigation into Hunt...
The findings of a new poll suggest a growing number of Americans have doubts about the integrity of the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden.
Forty-eight percent of U.S. adults said they are “Not so/Not confident at all” when asked about their confidence in the Department of Justice’s handling of its inquiry into the president’s son in a “fair and nonpartisan manner,” according to a ABC News/Ipsos survey.
The figure — representing a “plurality” of Americans, as ABC News put it — reflects a “wave” period of August 15-16 — which would be following when Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated Delaware’s U.S. Attorney David Weiss to special counsel status last week.
It also is a slight increase over the prior “wave” period of August 2-3, during which 46% of respondents said they lacked confidence in the investigation.
Meanwhile, Americans who said they were “very” and “somewhat” confident dropped from 35% to 32% across the two poll waves.
The overall survey for August 15-16, which also featured questions about President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, had input from 508 adults and a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, according to Ipsos.
Republicans have assailed Garland’s decision last week to appoint Weiss as special counsel in the Hunter Biden matter, a designation that gives the prosecutor broader authority to bring charges outside of his own district.
GOP critics pointed to what they call a “sweetheart plea deal” that fell apart in recent weeks and suggested the special counsel announcement was geared toward stymieing congressional investigations into the Bidens.
“This action by Biden’s DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in a post to X. “If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn’t get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel? House Republicans will continue to pursue the facts for the American people.”
Democrats in Congress have defended the Department of Justice, insisting that Republicans have presented no evidence showing wrongdoing on the part of President Biden while arguing that the GOP is attempting to distract from criminal inquiries into Trump. Both Trump and the elder Biden are seeking another term in the White House in the 2024 election.
The special counsel appointment was indicative of “the true independence of this Department of Justice,” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) said on CNN over the weekend.
During an MSNBC appearance on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) argued the GOP investigations “don’t matter to the average American people.”
Hunter Biden, 53, pleaded not guilty to the tax charges in Delaware, but Weiss has indicated he wants to move the case to trial in Washington, D.C., or California. Each of the misdemeanor charges for an alleged failure to pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018 brings a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison.
In addition, the younger Biden’s legal team and prosecutors are clashing over whether a pretrial diversion agreement on a felony firearm offense survived the collapse of their plea deal. With the felony gun charge, prosecutors accused Biden of knowingly possessing a firearm while being an “unlawful” drug user in 2018. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison on that count.
Whistleblower testimony from Internal Revenue Service agents who worked on the Hunter Biden case have brought forth allegations that the inquiry had been slow-walked in a way that may have precluded more charges.
Department of Justice leaders pushed back against claims of politicization.
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