“This will have a significant impact on re-election. They risk being constantly misdirected. Every time someone appears before a grand jury or is subpoenaed, the press will keep asking about it. Biden wants to talk about the economy, guns and national security, and it will be less able to do it,” said a senior Democrat.
Democrats also fear it will increase the scope of the special counsel’s investigations.
“Special counsel always find things they don’t expect to find. (The investigation of former President Bill) Clinton started as an investigation into a real estate deal he and Hillary did when he was governor and ended with Monica Lewinsky,” the senior Democrat said.
The Biden campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in July to charges of failing to pay more than $100,000 in taxes owed on more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018. He pleaded no guilty or not guilty in a separate case involving accuses him of illegally possessing a firearm while using illegal drugs.
Top Democrats had hoped that a plea deal between Hunter Biden and Weiss would have allowed the president to put his son’s legal troubles behind him and relegate the matter to Republican-led congressional investigations.
But a federal judge refused to accept the proposed settlement, and Weiss said in a court brief Friday that talks between the two parties had since broken down.
A possible trial raises the possibility of a spectacle unprecedented in American history: the son of a sitting president facing criminal charges while his father campaigns for re-election, likely against Republican Donald Trump, who is facing al least three forthcoming own criminal trials.
Republicans have accused the older Biden of profiting from his son’s businesses in Ukraine and China, although they have yet to present any evidence of wrongdoing. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in July that the house could launch an impeachment inquiry in the fall.