A plurality of Americans do not support how the Department of Justice (DOJ) handled its investigation into Hunter Biden, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Wednesday.
ABC and Ipsos polled Americans on whether the DOJ handled the Hunter Biden case in a “fair and nonpartisan manner” after two IRS whistleblowers accused prosecutors of giving President Joe Biden’s son special treatment, and Hunter’s plea and diversion agreements with the DOJ collapsed upon scrutiny from a federal judge.
NEW: Hunter Biden worked with multiple PR firms to secretly edit his Wikipedia page in order to improve his image and remove criticism of his Burisma board seat, according to emails from his laptop archive @DailyCaller
— James Lynch (@jameslynch32) August 16, 2023
“On another subject, how confident are you that the U.S. Justice Department is handling its investigation of Hunter Biden in a fair and nonpartisan manner?” ABC/Ipsos surveyors asked a nationally representative sample of 508 adults. (RELATED: Hunter Biden Used Secretive PR Firms To Put Spin On Wikipedia Pages, Emails Show)
Nearly half of respondents, 48%, said they are “not so confident” or “not confident at all” that the DOJ was fair in the Hunter Biden case, with 32% “very” or “somewhat confident” the department conducted its investigation appropriately. The questions were posed from Aug. 15-16, and the poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.7%. The figures are nearly identical to when ABC News/Ipsos polled Americans on the Hunter Biden investigation Aug. 2-3. The partisan divisions in the poll are 26-25-41%, Democrats-Republicans-independents, ABC noted.
IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler testified to the House Ways and Means Committee in late May and early June, alleging DOJ prosecutors slow-walked and actively obstructed the investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes and foreign business dealings. (RELATED: IRS Whistleblower Gary Shapley’s Attorneys Debunk False Claims From Hunter Biden’s Lawyer)
— Empower Oversight (@EMPOWR_us) August 15, 2023
Shapley and Ziegler publicly testified before the House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means Committee in July, right before Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and sign a diversion agreement for his felony gun charge.
In late July, the first son’s guilty plea and diversion agreement fell apart when Delaware U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika scrutinized an immunity provision tucked into Hunter Biden’s diversion agreement. Noreika’s questioning resulted in DOJ prosecutor Leo Wise conceding Biden could still be charged for his foreign business dealings under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and Biden’s defense counsel disagreed with Wise’s assessment.
The dispute caused Hunter Biden to plead not guilty, and subsequent negotiations with the DOJ did not lead to a revised plea agreement, prosecutors said in a Tuesday court filing. Prosecutors also clarified Biden’s diversion agreement was not put into place, despite claims from Biden’s attorney that it was legally binding. The House Oversight Committee has discovered bank records showing the Biden family and its business associates made more than $20 million from their Ukrainian, Russian, Chinese, Romanian and Kazakh business partners.
Attorney General Merrick Garland named Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss special counsel Friday in the ongoing Hunter Biden investigation. Weiss served as lead prosecutor in the Hunter Biden case, and Joe Biden-appointed U.S. Attorneys in D.C. and the Central District of California blocked Weiss from charging the younger Biden in those districts, Shapley testified.
Special counsel Weiss filed a motion Friday to rescind Hunter Biden’s Delaware tax charges to potentially charge him in either D.C. or the Central District of California.