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Hunter Biden Indicted Again; Trump Ally Cooperating With Prosecutors; Federal Court Maintains Gag Order On Trump. Aired 2-2:30p ET
Aired December 08, 2023 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hunter Biden indicted again. The president's son now facing nine charges, including failure to file and pay taxes. Prosecutors allege he engaged in a four-year scheme to spend his money on drugs, exotic cars, luxury hotels, quote, everything but his taxes.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And from subverting to cooperating, why an attorney at the center of Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election is now helping investigators in at least four states. Will he cooperate with federal investigators, too? And as the climate crisis touches every region of the globe, there's new CNN polling revealing Americans' worries about a warming planet and who they think should take action. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here. Here's CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
KEILAR: Once again, the president's son is being accused of breaking the law, but this time Hunter Biden is facing serious jail time. The Justice Department said that he could get up to 17 years in prison if he's found guilty of these latest charges. Three of them are felonies. In a 56-page indictment, special counsel David Weiss accuses Hunter Biden of evading $1.4 million in taxes over a four-year period despite the fact that he had the money. And even when he did pay, one year, prosecutors say he used false business deductions. This is Hunter Biden's second indictment since his plea agreement with federal prosecutors fell apart in July. In that first indictment, he was charged with several low-level gun offenses. CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez is here following this for us. This indictment goes into pretty spectacular detail.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENCE: Right. There are some very salacious details in this indictment. It's 56 pages where the government makes the case that, look, Hunter Biden had the money. He was making millions of dollars in his business dealings in Ukraine and China and, because of his own personal issues, did not pay these taxes. I mean, we're talking about, you know, $2,700 paid on pornography, $188,000 that they counted used on adult entertainment, things that they say instead he could have been doing to make -- , you know, -- have his business be, you know, pay its taxes that were due. Right. We heard from Hunter Biden's attorney who says that this is all a political indictment. I'll read you just a part of what he says. He says Hunter's last name was anything other than Biden. The charges in Delaware, which is the gun charges, and now in California, would not have been brought. And, of course, you know, the politics of this, we cannot escape, obviously. We know the campaign is now in full swing. And the president's son makes clear what he believes, Republicans are trying to do by going after him. Listen.
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HUNTER BIDEN, SON OF U.S. PRESIDENT: They are trying to, in their most illegitimate way, but rational way, they're trying to destroy a presidency. And so, it's not about me. In their most base way, what they're trying to do is they're trying to kill me, knowing that it will be a pain greater than my father could be able to handle.
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PEREZ: And look, Brianna, as if to make, to help make Hunter Biden's point, we heard from Republicans on Capitol Hill who have said that they want, they've told the Justice Department that they want this investigation to now turn its attention to the president. I should note that in these 56 pages, we don't see any evidence, anything indicating money going to President Biden. Of course, that's something that Republicans are going to continue digging in on. They're due to try to get him to be deposed here in Washington next week. We'll see whether that actually happens.
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KEILAR: Yeah, they're threatening contempt of Congress if he doesn't agree to that closed-door deposition. So, who knows what will happen? Evan, thank you so much. Very important report. Boris.
SANCHEZ: We want to dig deeper now with Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia of California. He's a member of the House Oversight Committee. Congressman, thank you so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us. These nine new charges, they're far more serious than what was in that plea deal that Hunter originally agreed to, the one that fell apart over the summer. Republicans are arguing that this is happening because IRS whistleblowers came forward saying the DOJ was taking it easy on Hunter. Do you think these new charges are proof that the Justice Department was trying to give the president's son a sweetheart deal.
REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): Well, look, I think a couple of things are really important to note. I think first, look, Hunter is going to be held accountable by the courts, by a judge, and he will be held accountable for all of these charges so that he's a private citizen and he will go through the judicial process. It's also very clear that the accusations of the Republicans and saying that somehow President Biden controls or is weaponizing the Justice Department is absolutely false. I mean, they're literally taking Hunter through a judicial process for all these indictments. But what's happening right now is Republicans are trying to turn all of this, particularly around Hunter Biden, into a huge political sham and impeachment where there's been absolutely zero evidence. Republicans have said so. Republicans in Congress continue to admit that there's been zero evidence linking the president to any of Hunter Biden's business dealings. In what you all just discussed right now in the document that's been presented, to the court as well, there's zero evidence of the president doing anything that connects him to his business dealings.
And so, what this is, is essentially just a big political sham that Republicans and James Comer are trying to impose on President Biden because they want to damage him and they want to get Donald Trump re- elected. That's what this is all about, is it's political. And the Oversight Committee, we want Hunter Biden to come in and talk to us publicly, but Republicans refuse.
SANCHEZ: Well, the Oversight Committee chairman, James Comer, says he's not satisfied with even these new charges. He actually echoed claims from IRS whistleblowers that investigators weren't allowed to follow evidence that they felt might lead them to President Biden. So you say there is no evidence. These IRS whistleblowers are saying potentially there is, but they weren't allowed to pursue it. That's why Republicans say they want a formal vote on an impeachment inquiry. Your response?
R. GARCIA: I mean, look, what's really important in all these proceedings, is that we allow the Justice Department to do its job. The Justice Department has and should treat every person with the same level of due diligence, with the same level of inquiry. And they are doing that right now with Hunter Biden, who is a private citizen. And so as far as James Comer, every single investigation that James Comer has brought before the Oversight Committee, of which I sit on, has been completely political. He's brought forward witnesses who ended up being spies. He's brought forward witnesses that end up having zero evidence linking the president to anything. And so, I think what's really important is that us as members of Congress should not be trying to get involved in the Justice Department's process.
Our job is oversight. We present information. The Justice Department oftentimes works with committee members, as well as with committee staff, to pass along information that we're able to give. But at the end of the day, the Justice Department has got to make those decisions. And James Comer should get out of trying to be the judge and the jury on Hunter Biden, and certainly on President Biden.
SANCHEZ: Do you think that this day's formal vote in an impeachment inquiry, it's scheduled to get introduced into committee next week. Do you think it's going to succeed? Do Republicans have the vote?
R. GARCIA: I mean, look, we don't know. But what we do know is this is an extreme political stunt. I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene and other extremists in Congress have been trying to impeach President Biden from day one, before he was barely just taking office. And so their entire goal here is to damage President Biden and not actually work and focus on what matters for the American public. We have a war in Ukraine. that needs our serious attention. We have a budget that needs to get passed so we can actually fund the government if they want to spend their time on this kind of sham impeachment inquiry. There will be a vote.
Whether it passes or not is going to be up to Republicans. Democrats are united in actually trying to get to work and do the work for the American people. What we do know is that there is zero evidence to open up an impeachment inquiry. This has been repeated by Republican members in Congress, witnesses that we have that have been deposed, and also, I think, by anyone that actually is following this case understands that this is all political.
SANCHEZ: I do want to ask you about something you mentioned regarding Ukraine. But first, Hunter Biden is scheduled to appear for a closed- door deposition next week. You mentioned that you wanted him to testify publicly.
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He has been threatened with a contempt of Congress charge. Would you counsel him to testify in private to not face that charge? What are you wanting to ask the president's son?
R. GARCIA: I think he should testify publicly. We already know that there have been depositions that have happened over the last year, year and a half, around different investigations, including this one, where Republicans have essentially twisted the deposition and put out their own information about what they want the public to know, which has not always aligned with actually what happened actually in the room. Republicans have been asking for a public hearing of Hunter Biden in front of the American people. Hunter Biden's agreed to it. Why do we have to do this in private and in secret when we can actually have a public hearing where Hunter Biden can answer all the questions that Republicans have, the Democrats have, and the public can make their assessment in that way. And so I think this is really unfortunate. James Comer is going back on what he said he wanted.
SANCHEZ: Congressman, quickly, I do want to get to that question about Ukraine, because there's a battle on the Senate side right now over a deal to pair Israel aid with Ukraine aid. And Republicans want some concessions from Democrats on border security, potentially changes to immigration policy. Have you gotten a sense of how much it would take to get House Republicans to back whatever deal comes out of this? The Senate when it comes to immigration?
R. GARCIA: Well, first of all, we know that House Republicans want to pass the most extreme anti-immigrant, anti-asylum laws around immigration in this country. I mean, things that demonize immigrants, that demonize people that are here working, that are serving, that are students, that are just here trying to be part of this country. We know that that's already the Republican proposal. And so, this idea that we're going to politicize funding for Ukraine, for Israel, for humanitarian aid in Gaza, and tie that to extremist policies across around the border, I think is crazy.
And so, what Democrats are trying to do is be very clear that we are ready to pass a package that includes foreign aid, but to tie it to extreme Republican proposals around the border is absolutely wrong. And I think we're standing up and saying that is not acceptable to us. And we're hopeful that both the White House, our Senate partners, and certainly Democrats in the House stick to those principles.
SANCHEZ: Congressman Robert Garcia, we got to leave the conversation there. Appreciate the time, sir.
R. GARCIA: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Of course. Brianna.
KEILAR: We're learning new details about a former Trump ally who is now cooperating with prosecutors in multiple states. Sources tell CNN that Kenneth Chesebro, the pro-Trump lawyer who devised the fake electors plot to overturn the 2020 election, is now working with prosecutors in Wisconsin and Michigan. CNN's Marshall Cohen is with us now on this story. We should mention, of course, that he's already pleaded guilty to conspiracy in Georgia. Why is he now helping investigators in these other states?
MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: I think because he doesn't want to get charged again. We already knew, Brianna, that he was cooperating in Georgia and Nevada. The development here is that that cooperation is more expansive than we knew. He is working with state prosecutors in Michigan and Wisconsin that are also similarly looking into the fake electors plot in their states. And this news, Brianna, is the first time that word has emerged, the first indication of a criminal investigation in Wisconsin.
That means that there are now criminal state investigations in six of the seven states where the Trump campaign tried to pull off this caper. Three of those investigations have led to criminal charges, most famously in Georgia with the sweeping racketeering case that went all the way to the top with Donald Trump. Chesebro pleaded guilty there, is cooperating there. Earlier this week, Nevada announced criminal charges against the six fake electors there. Chesebro cooperated but wasn't charged in that probe. And then Michigan was the first to announce criminal charges back in July against the fake electors there. Indications, including this cooperation from Chesebro, that the Michigan probe is still active and may even be expanding.
KEILAR: Yeah, he's a hugely consequential cooperator, so something to watch here. Marshall, thank you for that. Coming up, the 2024 candidates are out on the trail. They are hoping to crack into Trump's huge lead in the polls. We'll have their latest strategy, uh, ahead. And later, President Biden on his way to Nevada, why that state is crucial to his re-election bid.
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SANCHEZ: The Federal Court of Appeals in D.C. has maintained most of Judge Tanya Chutkin's gag order against Donald Trump. CNN's Paula Reid joins us now with more. Paula, at the center of this argument, Judge Chutkin was concerned that Trump's rhetoric could intimidate witnesses, create more threats against government employees. Trump's argument was that he has the First Amendment and he's running for political office. Ultimately, the appeals court, though, appearing to side with Judge Chutkin.
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Here, the Federal Appellate Court has largely affirmed this gag order that limits former President Trump's ability to publicly criticize court staff, prosecutors, and potential witnesses in the election subversion case. Now, the gag order had been suspended while this appeal was working its way through the courts, and in oral arguments right before Thanksgiving, these judges, they expressed some skepticism about whether this gag order really interfered with Trump's First Amendment right.
Now, as you noted, these restrictions were put in place by Judge Tanya Chutkin. She is the judge overseeing the election, subversion case here in D.C., scheduled to go to trial in March, and she said that she believes that Trump's public statements about witnesses, about members of the court staff, that those could potentially impact the case, and also open these people up to threats. She has, in fact, received threats to her office that she has not covered by this gag order.
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Now, I would expect that the former president's lawyers will likely try to appeal this issue to the Supreme Court. They insist that the former president should be allowed to speak freely with no restrictions about this case. They have argued that this is political speech because he is, of course, the leading candidate for the presidency. They argue that that enjoys the highest level of protection. But Judge Tanya Chutkan has repeatedly said that his First Amendment rights, his status as a candidate, all of that yields at her courtroom door and yields to the orderly administration of justice. And here she has largely been affirmed by a federal appellate court.
SANCHEZ: Paula Reid, thanks so much for that reporting. Brianna.
kEILAR: In the meantime, former President Trump is set to testify in the New York civil fraud trial against him and his business empire. But while he prepares to take the stand, the rest of the Republican field is looking ahead to 2024. With just weeks to go until the first presidential contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. The Republican candidates are flocking to those states. They are hoping to gain a boost following the fourth GOP debate this week. We have CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny, who is joining us.
All right. So, you have Nikki Haley's campaign looking, of course, to gain strength and financial support from some major donors like the Koch Network. What is her strategy? Is she's really hoping to become the Trump alternative?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, her strategy now is she's making her first visit in Iowa tonight, after that debate. She's been splitting her time between Iowa and New Hampshire more than most of the candidates. But her strategy right now is to try and continue some of that upward swing that she saw from debate to debate and see if that's still alive. But boy, a lot happened at that debate. And Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, certainly was talking about his conservative record, getting into a bit of a tit for tat with her about who is the most socially conservative.
Well, a very interesting thing happened this morning. Her super PAC that's supporting her decided to put away in the most aggressive way yet, going directly after Ron DeSantis.
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UNKNOWN: Judges are a priority. And honestly, made in China and Russia, businesses that have been locked down. What a phony. Ron DeSantis, too lame to lead, too weak to win.
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ZELENY: So those are some pretty strong words there. Too lame to lead, too weak to win. Not from the Haley campaign, but from her super PAC. But talking about essentially comparing the two, saying, Ron DeSantis is a mini me, a mini-Trump, if you will. So, they're really going after those voters who are looking to turn the page from the former president. A little risky, I think, in Iowa, where Trump, of course, remains pretty popular among the Republican base.
KEILAR: Yeah. Lame, lame. I don't know. That's just mean. Is that Iowa nice?
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ZELENY: We'll see.
KEILAR: Jeff, Iowa's Zeleny (ph).
ZELENY: Because we know negative ads work.
KEILAR: I mean, they sure do. Even, I guess, in Iowa nice. Okay, so let's talk about Chris Christie, because he's obviously very focused on New Hampshire. And he's all about, he's all about going after Trump for sure. Is it working?
ZELENy: Look, he had a very strong week, a very strong debate performance. Really decided to re-engage after the third debate, where he really did not get into any back and forth with Vivek Ramaswamy. This week, he did. Sort of defending Nikki Haley, but also talking directly about Donald Trump, saying he's unfit to lead as a president. Well, he's been campaigning aggressively in New Hampshire, and he talked about the age and fitness of both of the older candidates.
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CHRIS CHRISTIE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): Trump is a liar. And he's been lying his whole life. And in his private life, what he does is he lies to borrow money from people, then he goes bankrupt, sticks them with the bill, and moves on. Can't do that when you're president of the United States.
Joe Biden is 81 years old. Let me tell you who's not worried about paying the bill. A guy who's about to leave the table.
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ZELENT: Wow, some strong words. Some strong words from him there as well. Look, I mean, what former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is doing, trying to make the case appeal to independent voters there who also want to move on from Donald Trump. The question is, is there a lane or space for him? But he is vowing to stay around until the convention. We'll see if that happens, actually. But he has support in New Hampshire, there's no doubt. But that is where his entire campaign strategy is rooted.
KEILAR: Yeah, look, and even if he's not going to really give them a run for their money, he can still impact the race. You see, he makes headlines, so we'll see. Jeff, thank you so much for that. Boris.
SANCHEZ: President Biden is heading west, dropping in on the key battleground state of Nevada today, which helped secure his White House victory in 2020. But he does so amid a mixed bag of headlines. There was another strong jobs report released today with unemployment down to 3.7 percent, though polling shows that voters remain concerned about lingering inflation. And then there's the new charges against his son, Hunter Biden, and his ongoing federal tax case. Notably, a recent New York Times-Siena poll shows that 48 percent of Nevada voters strongly disapprove of Biden's job performance.
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And polls show that Latino voters, a critical part of his coalition and a big demographic in Nevada, appear to be trending away. We want to bring in the president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Domingo Garcia. Domingo, thank you so much for being with us today from Dallas. CNN's latest poll shows that only 4%, there's only a 4% gap among Latinos between President Biden and the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump. Do you think Joe Biden can win re-election with a margin that slim?
DOMINGO, GARCIA, LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS PRESIDENT: No, he's going to have to up his game. For too long, he's taken Latino issues and Latino voters kind of for granted. And I think voters in Nevada are up for grabs. Latinos want to know, what are you going to do about jobs? What are you going to do about inflation? What are we going to do about education for our children? And these are, you know, I'm going to call it the molly and taco issues for us, bread and butter issues that are important to Latino voters, not only in Nevada, but also in Arizona and other battleground states.
SANCHEZ: I'll take molly and taco over bread and butter any day, Domingo. President Biden, as you noted, headed to Vegas. He's touting infrastructure investments there. He is trying to push this idea that he is a union president. Obviously, we know unions play an outsized role, in Las Vegas specifically, like the Culinary Workers Union. But nationally, his approval rating on the economy is in the low 30s. It doesn't totally match where economic indicators are. So why are many feeling that the economy isn't healthy and that Biden isn't handling it well?
D. GARCIA: I think at home, you're still looking at smaller and smaller, I'm going to call it reserve spending left because so much money is being spent on gasoline. And on food and on rent and mortgages that the people don't see that they're really making any progress. And I think it's really important that President Biden is able to highlight what he's done. But more importantly, connect with Latino voters on those key issues of jobs, inflation, the economy, and what the Democratic Party and his campaign will do in the next four years. Don't take it for granted. They are leaning, especially Latino males are leaning towards the Republican Party on issues like law enforcement and military.
SANCHEZ: That is really fascinating. To me, Domingo, because of the rhetoric from Donald Trump, he's improved his standing with Latino voters since 2016 in -- all over the map and in different subsects of the Latino demographic. And yet recently, he was talking about the blood of the country being poisoned by immigrants. How do you square that seeming disparity between the rhetoric against immigrants and growing support for Trump among Latinos?
D. GARCIA: I think. It's important that we not let Trump get away with it or any other politician when they start playing the fear mongering game, the scapegoating, the fear of the other, which unfortunately, it appears that that's primarily what the Trump campaign is doing. I think a lot of Latino voters are concerned about immigration on the border for the especially those Latinos in the border areas.
I've been in Eagle Pass and El Paso, and they want something to be legally established, an orderly procession of immigration, as opposed to some of the chaos we're seeing now, as well as support and assistance. So, I think that's one of the things where there's a disconnect between what's happening in Washington and what's happening in the barrios and the homes of people in the border areas, as well as subsects of Latinos like in Florida.
SANCHEZ: And Domingo, one last question. Latinos are the fastest growing voting bloc in the country, but consistently we have the lowest numbers among ethnic groups for registration and turnout. Why do you think that is? How does that get fixed?
D. GARCIA: Because. There hasn't been an effort by Democrats or Republicans to really invest in getting the Latino vote out. But demographics is trending that way. And that wave is seen slowly lapping and lapping higher and higher. So even though the numbers are still down compared to other ethnic groups, the numbers are increasing. And in key balance constraints in Arizona, in Nevada, in Wisconsin, the Latino vote can make the difference.
SANCHEZ: Domingo Garcia, we very much appreciate you sharing your perspective with us.
D. GARCIA: Thank you, Boris. SANCHEZ: Of course. Coming up, we have images from Gaza to share with you. It shows Israeli soldiers detaining dozens of men stripped to their underwear and wearing blindfolds. We're going to ask directly an Israeli government spokesperson about this when we come back.
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