Dan Goldman Continues to Shamelessly Defend Joe and Hunter Biden

During his appearance on ABC News' "This Week," Goldman was asked by host Jonathan Karl about whether he was surprised that U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika did not accept the plea deal for Hunter Biden. It not only would have allowed Hunter to avoid jail time, it also would have given him immunity for other charges. 

Goldman didn't seem concerned in the slightest, responding "I think that there's been a lot of hey made of this," claiming "this is a fairly typical process." While he did point out it "was an unusual agreement," it wasn't for the reasons mentioned above, but in part because "there's the possibility that Donald Trump will be president."

What followed was delusional response about the weaponization of government, as the congressman sought to insert himself into the minds of Hunter Biden's lawyers. "And we know from his presidency how much he weaponized the Department of Justice to go after his enemies and to favor his associates," Goldman said, speaking of Trump. "And so Hunter Biden’s lawyers are concerned that Donald Trump, if he were to get the presidency, would weaponize the Department of Justice," he continued, offering "so there is an added calculation to this."

It is the Biden administration that has weaponized the Department of Justice (DOJ), though. While Hunter Biden looks to be getting a sweet deal, no matter how Goldman looks to spin and downplay it as normal, the Biden administration is going after Trump as he looks to be the president's most likely opponent in 2024--given his frontrunner status in the polls-- for a rematch of the 2020 presidential election. In the days following Goldman's Sunday show appearance, Trump was indicted once more by a grand jury investigating the events of January 6, 2021. 

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The Harvard CAPS / Harris poll released last month shows that the American people believe the charges against Trump to be politicized. 

More recent polling from Rasmussen also shows that a majority believe that "Biden has done something we have not seen since Richard Nixon: Use the weaponization of government to benefit his family and deny Congress the ability to have the oversight." Sixty percent of likely voters also believe that Biden has been part of "an illegal cover-up."

“Biden has done something we have not seen since Richard Nixon: Use the weaponization of government to benefit his family and deny Congress the ability to have the oversight.”

-AGREE-
All - 58%
Dem - 33%
Rep - 82%
Ind - 62% https://t.co/tMzDYtxffh

— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) July 31, 2023

Goldman also felt the need to use Democratic talking points we've heard ad nauseam, which is that "a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney" is involved in the case, as well as "a Trump-appointed judge" as he went on to claim that "this is a very independent and thorough investigation."

While Goldman finds the investigation to be worthy of praise, he should know better as someone who worked for the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York. 

During his appearance on last week's episode of CBS News' "Face the Nation," former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) lambasted Weiss' "incompetent" handling of the case. Not only is Christie running against Trump in the 2024 Republican primary, but he too has some experience in the U.S. Attorney's office, as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey during George W. Bush's presidency. 

Further, while a Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney may be involved in the case, it's the Biden administration's DOJ at work here. Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland have caused enough confusion.

According to IRS Whistleblower Gary Shapley, Weiss did not actually have the full authority to bring charges and he told six witnesses he did not. Garland had indicated that Weiss did have such authority, however. In his June 30 letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH)--on the evening of the Friday before the 4th of July holiday--Weiss explained that he would have to "request Special Attorney status." In a July 10 letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Weiss, in an attempt "[t]o clarify an apparent misperception and to avoid future confusion," danced around the issue further. While the June 30 letter mentioned "Special Attorney status," the July 10 letter mentions the "Special Counsel designation."

The DOJ has offered to make Weiss available to the House Judiciary Committee sometime in September or October, but the chairmen of multiple House committees are still looking for more answers, as they alerted Garland in a letter on Monday about opening an inquiry. 

Particularly chilling about the Hunter Biden legal team that Goldman is looking to defend so stridently, is that they too took note of how Noreika was appointed by Trump, in the context of how last Wednesday's hearing left them "fuming."

Before Karl jumped in once more on "This Week," Goldman continued with his laughable opinions on the matter. "I think that whatever happens in the Hunter Biden case, we can rest assured that it was done based solely on the facts and the evidence, and that there was nothing else to it," he offered. 

Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman: "I think that whatever happens in the Hunter Biden case, we can rest assured that it was done based solely on the facts and the evidence and that there was nothing else to it." pic.twitter.com/nuJCFfoGjZ

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 30, 2023

As Karl jumped in to mention the "most controversial" parts of the plea agreement in that he faced immunity from other charges, Goldman looked even more foolish. Karl felt compelled to ask "was that too broad, I mean, to have basically a blanket immunity from anything related to all of that income?"

"No, because that’s what they’ve been investigating for five years, and they ultimately determined they could not charge him," Goldman claimed. "And for whatever reason, we don’t know, the House Republicans have no idea what the actual evidence is that David Weiss has, and this was an exhaustive five-year investigation."

Goldman also tried to downplay the shocking deal by speaking to the perspective of Hunter Biden's lawyers, in that what they "wanted was some confirmation that they will not charge him for any crimes related to the investigation that they un--that they underwent," trying to speak to how "that's fairly typical" as a matter of how "oftentimes, prosecutors and defense lawyers go back and forth about what degree of immunity a defendant will get."

Karl brought up another concern raised before, which is that the president hasn't ruled out pardoning his son, though White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claims it's off the table. "Do you think a pardon for his son would be a mistake," he asked. 

While Goldman believes it would indeed be a mistake, he also tried to defend Biden while throwing Trump under the bus. "I don’t think there’s any chance that President Biden is going to do that, unlike his predecessor who pardoned all of his friends and anyone who had any access to him," he mentioned, before going on to make another laughable point.

"President Biden has restored the integrity of the Department of Justice and I think you see that in this case, where he kept on, and Merrick Garland kept on a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney to investigate the president’s son," Goldman said. "If there is not an indication of the independence of the Department of Justice beyond that, I don’t know what -- what we could look for."

Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman claims — with a straight face — that "Biden has restored the integrity of the Department of Justice" pic.twitter.com/5x0NzZfan1

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 30, 2023

Such remarks came just after Goldman discussed the "very serious" charges Special Counsel Jack Smith was bringing against Trump, offering as a take away that "Donald Trump does not believe that the law applies to him" and "he simply believes he's above the law and that he can do whatever he wants." He even brought Trump's first impeachment into the conversation, a topic he loves to tout since he served as a Democratic-witness at the time, before he had been elected to Congress. 

Using Democratic-talking points about charges against Trump only further shows how the weaponization and politicization of the DOJ is already in place.

This of course all took place before Goldman was privy to the closed door testimony that the House Oversight Committee, which Goldman is a member of, heard from Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's former business associate. As Spencer covered at the time, Goldman confirmed that then Vice President Biden came to the phone to speak to Hunter's business associates, but downplayed such conversations as supposedly having to do with the weather.

Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman says Hunter Biden did, in fact, frequently put his dad on speakerphone for his business partners — but they were only talking about the weather pic.twitter.com/HoJ5EKYOEc

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 31, 2023

Jean-Pierre used to claim that Biden did not talk to his son about such business dealings, that is if she was willing to provide any kind of answer at all on the matter. Now she's changed her tune, not only claiming that Biden wasn't involved, but attempting to gaslight the American people into believing the narrative is no different from what it once was.

Biden himself was particularly aggressive on the campaign trail in insisting he never talked to his son about the business deals. As president, he merely laughs off such questions. 

Karine Jean-Pierre Gets Awfully Testy When Asked About Biden Family Dealings https://t.co/ZfvKDdWsrl

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 25, 2023

Goldman was also among those demanding for the Committee to release the transcript, but they seemed to have put him in his place exposing him for the partisan hack that he tends to be. 

Democrats can’t explain President Biden’s lies about talking with Hunter’s business associates so they are now pretending not to know how congressional transcripts work.@RepDanGoldman was a staffer not long ago and knows that every transcribed interview goes through the same… https://t.co/JBB104pJSJ

— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) August 1, 2023

Although significant, this recent defense is not the only time in which Goldman has beclowned himself defending the Biden family. During last month's House Oversight Committee hearing involving testimony from Shapley and fellow IRS Whistleblower Joseph Ziegler, Goldman tried to downplay the charges against Hunter, but instead caused "Dresden-level" damage in that he proved Biden spoke to his son about such business dealings. 

YIKES: Rep. Dan Goldman was trying to prove that Joe Biden was not implicated in the IRS Whistleblowers' allegations, but instead accidentally showed that Joe Biden did discuss foreign business dealings with his son Hunter. pic.twitter.com/6nyEhfm36G

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 19, 2023