Maggie Haberman Smacks Down Trump ‘Seizing On’ Hunter Biden Deal: ‘It’s Just Not The Same Thing’
CNN analyst Maggie Haberman smacked down ex-President Donald Trump and other Republicans who “seize on” Hunter Biden’s plea deal to deflect from Trump’s legal problems, noting “It’s just not the same thing.”
News broke Tuesday morning that President Joe Biden’s only surviving son Hunter has reached a plea deal on three federal charges — two tax misdemeanors and one gun felony.
Trump and many other Republicans immediately complained loudly about the deal, contrasting it with the bombshell 37-count indictment against Trump related to Espionage Act violations.
On Tuesday’s edition of CNN’s The Situation Room, Haberman shot down those comparisons, while also roasting Trump for his “astonishing” self-incriminating Fox News interview:
MARQUARDT: And, Maggie, Trump seizing on this amid his own gargantuan legal problems. How convenient is this timing for him?
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I don’t know that I would use the word convenient, and then I do think that for Trump, given the fact that this is coming right after, number one, he gave this pretty astonishing Fox News interview in which he appeared to acknowledge he was holding on to documents despite efforts by the federal government, despite a grand jury subpoena to get him to turn it over, I don’t think that hurts him to have that wiped out, but it doesn’t help his larger legal case.
I mean, I think it gives him something to seize on and Trump is fighting as much in the court of public opinion as he is fighting the legal case. I think he will see more of that. But to Elliot’s point, these are very different cases. And Trump is also facing charges in Manhattan, he is facing potential indictment in Georgia, a potential second indictment from Jack Smith’s office and then two civil cases. So, it’s just not the same thing.
MARQUARDT: We’re certainly going to be discussing that train wreck of an interview that the former president gave with Fox News in just a few moments.
Elliot, we heard different stories from the two different sides of this legal coin, the Hunter Biden lawyers saying that this is basically wrapped up, but David Weiss saying that this investigation is still ongoing. To what extent is it still ongoing?
WILLIAMS: Look, the use of that word, ongoing, is a little perplexing. Now, perhaps they might have been using boilerplate language to the extent that until he pleads guilty in court, it is an open matter, or they might still be investigating other matters. It’s just hard to say. He’s going to go into a court, he’s going to plead guilty, and as of that moment, he’s going to have a misdemeanor conviction, a couple of them.
MARQUARDT: And most likely will stay out of jail.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
Watch above via CNN’s The Situation Room.
