Former President Donald Trump gave his thoughts on Hunter Biden’s three gun charges in a pre-taped interview with “Meet the Press” on NBC.
Trump sat down with new “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker who asked the former president about whether Hunter Biden’s indictment contradicts his assertion that there is a two-tiered justice system, according to a transcript of the full interview. NBC chose to air select portions of the interview Sunday and this section was not included in the broadcast.
#MTP moderator Kristen Welker sat down with former President Donald Trump to discuss his legal troubles, a potential running mate, the war in Ukraine and more.
Read the full transcript of the interview. https://t.co/jFXfoUPMJT
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 17, 2023
“I want to talk to you about that a little bit later on. But first, let’s talk about the breaking news today. We learned just a short time ago that the president’s son, Hunter Biden, was indicted by a federal grand jury on three gun charges. Given that, Mr. President, can you continue to say that there are two systems of justice?,” Welker asked Trump.
“He had a plea deal that was the deal of the century — the art of the deal. You could write a book on it. The art of the deal. And, all of a sudden, that was broken up by a judge who was able to — a brilliant judge, actually, who was able to see through what was happening,” Trump replied.
“And it’s a sad situation. I mean, nobody should be happy about this. I’m not happy about it. Nobody is. It’s a very sad thing, and it’s so bad for our country. But, you know, if you think about it, I’ve been under investigation from the day I came down the escalator, and phony investigations, fake investigations, investigations that I beat every single time,” Trump added.
Welker continued to press Trump on the Hunter Biden investigation and his view that there are two different justice systems in America.
“But this is the only charge that doesn’t affect Joe Biden. This was the gun charge. But gun charges are very serious. You know, people have had gun charges and gone to jail for a lot of, a lot of years,” Trump said.
BREAKING: Hunter Biden indicted on felony gun charge in Delaware @DailyCaller https://t.co/bNIEKo3spL pic.twitter.com/U4tCv00rz8
— James Lynch (@jameslynch32) September 14, 2023
Hunter Biden was indicted Thursday on three federal gun charges and faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. The younger Biden’s taxes continue to be investigated by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who was appointed special counsel in August after Biden’s plea agreement fell apart.
Hunter Biden’s guilty plea agreement for two tax misdemeanors and a pretrial diversion agreement for his felony gun charge fell apart in July after Delaware U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika scrutinized an immunity provision tucked into the diversion agreement. Noreika’s pressure caused a dispute between the DOJ and Biden’s legal team over the scope of his potential immunity, causing the plea agreement to collapse. As a result, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the two tax offenses.
Noreika dismissed the tax charges after Weiss requested to withdraw them in order to potentially charge Hunter Biden in D.C. or the Central District of California. IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler accused the Justice Department of giving Hunter Biden special treatment under Weiss’ watch prior to his special counsel designation.
The House Ways and Means, Oversight and Judiciary Committees are investigating the IRS whistleblower allegations alongside House Oversight’s probe into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. The committees will be leading the House’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday.