Jean-Pierre Opens Briefing With Hunter Biden Remarks Minutes After Plea Deal Put On Hold

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre opened her briefing with a message to reporters about the Hunter Biden plea deal minutes after a judge put the agreement on hold.

After news broke last month that President Joe Biden’s only surviving son Hunter had reached a plea deal on three federal charges — two tax misdemeanors and one gun felony — ex-President Donald Trump and many other Republicans immediately complained loudly about the deal.

On Wednesday afternoon, the deal was thrown into turmoil as cable news breathlessly covered developments from the Delaware courtroom. The deal was ultimately put on hold and Biden entered a “not guilty” plea.

At Wednesday’s edition of the White House briefing, Jean-Pierre tried to head off questions about the case with a brief minute-long statement that included pointing out that the investigation was conducted by a prosecutor appointed by Trump, and that Biden has respected the independence of the prosecutor:

Now, I know many people have been following the news in Delaware today and have, and are going to have a lot of questions. And so here’s what I will say at the top before I turn it over to my colleague, the admiral.

Hunter Biden is a private citizen and this was a personal matter for him. As we have said, the President, the First Lady, they love their son and they support him as he continues to rebuild his life.

This case was handled independently, as all of you know, by the Justice Department under the leadership of a prosecutor appointed by the former president, President Trump. So for anything further, as you know, and we’ve been very consistent from here, I’d refer you to the Department of Justice and to Hunter’s representatives, who is his legal team, obviously, who can address any of your questions.

Watch above via The White House.