DOJ: investigation ‘ongoing;’ Hunter Biden attorney says probe ‘resolved’

The Justice Department on Tuesday said the investigation into Hunter Biden was “ongoing” even as it announced terms of a plea agreement with the president’s son and as an attorney for Hunter Biden said he understood the probe to be resolved.

Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay income tax. He also reached a diversion agreement relating to unlawful possession of a weapon, according to court papers filed Tuesday. If the deal is accepted by a judge, Biden would likely avoid prison time.

Still, a DOJ press release on Tuesday announcing these terms said “The investigation is ongoing.”

Hunter Biden’s attorney, Christopher Clark, described the terms of the agreements in a separate statement Tuesday and said, “It is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved.”

“With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved,” Clark said the statement.

“Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement.  A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government,” Clark added. 

Clark’s claim comes as some House Republicans are already pledging to continue probing the president and his son for what they describe as corruption and “possibly bribery.” 

“These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee’s investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes are revealed,” House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement Tuesday. 

Comer’s bribery allegations stem from a tip to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which investigated the allegation when it was made in 2020 but was unable to corroborate it.

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), issued a statement Tuesday criticizing his Republican colleagues for advancing “debunked conspiracy theories about President Biden.” Raskin also praised news of the charges against Hunter Biden as evidence of DOJ’s “continued institutional independence.”

“This development reflects the Justice Department’s continued institutional independence in following the evidence of actual crimes and enforcing the rule of law even in the face of constant criticism and heckling by my GOP colleagues who think that the system of justice should only follow their partisan wishes,” Raskin wrote in his statement.

This story was updated at 1:33 p.m.