Inside the White House's — and Biden's own — relief over the Hunter plea deal

Hunter Biden’s plea deal to misdemeanor tax and gun charges Tuesday was met with a mixture of sadness and relief by his father’s inner circle.

The president himself privately told confidants that he was proud of his son for taking responsibility for his actions, according to two people familiar with the conversations, even as his team expects the political attacks to only intensify.

Several people close to the elder Biden portrayed him as having been deeply anxious for months about his son’s legal fortunes and frustrated at the slow pace of the investigation. Biden had repeatedly barked to confidants that he could not understand why his son was being made to twist in the wind for five years, concerned the legal limbo could create a stress that would trigger his son’s demons, according to those people in the inner circle, who spoke about private matters on condition of anonymity.

Though President Biden had earlier insisted that his son had "done nothing wrong," members of Biden’s inner circle took great comfort in knowing that, with a guilty plea, Hunter likely would not serve prison time.

Theend of the investigation would be a marker, the first couple hoped, of a new era in Hunter Biden’s life. Biden calls to check on his son nearly every day, people close to him said, to voice his love and concern and support for Hunter staying sober. Those close to the president have long worried far more about the personal toll of the Hunter Biden investigations on the elder Biden.

“The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life,” said a White House spokesman. “We will have no further comment.”

But while a personal weight may have lifted for the president, a political one remains. Biden’s inner circle had prepared for Republican attacks whether or not Hunter Biden was charged. On Tuesday, Republicans claimed the plea deal represented biased justice — a privileged son who got off easy.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters that the plea deal “is continuing to show the two-tier system in America.” Former President Donald Trump, whose owntrial date was set Monday following his indictment by the Department of Justice, smashed out an all-caps social media screed alleging a “COVERUP.” He equated Biden’s sentence to “A TRAFFIC TICKET.” House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) saidBiden’s “sweetheart plea deal [would] have no impact on” his panel’s investigations.

Many in the West Wing were quick to scoff at the GOP claims, noting that the U.S. attorney who brought the charges was appointed by Trump. Moreover, they believed the outcome would serve to only underscore Biden’s insistence that the White House and DOJ be separate, noting the historic nature of a criminal charge being levied against a sitting president’s son.

The plea deal comes against the backdrop of Trump’s own growing legal troubles. Mere minutes before the news broke, a Florida federal judge ordered the trial into Trump’s handling of classified documents begin in August.

While the cases are, inevitably, to be compared, there are key differences between them. Hunter Biden cooperated with the government and Trump did not, refusing to return classified government documents and, according to theaffidavit detailing the 37-count indictment against him, instructing aides to hide the material from federal agents.

President Bidenordered his staff and the DNC to remain silent about Trump’s trials (a demand that would not change in the immediate aftermath of the Hunter deal, according to several officials familiar) while Republicans made no such promise and quickly signaled they would continue their own probes into the younger Biden’s business dealings.

The political outcome of such choices remains to be seen. But Biden advisers point out that Trump made many of these allegations during the 2020 campaign, even springing one of Hunter’s ex-business partners as a surprise guest at the last 2020 general election debate. It had little impact.

For the president, the political considerations around his son can sometimes get lost amid the emotional ones. His team had prepared for a variety of outcomes but some aides found it difficult to broach the subject with him. Hunter Biden has written extensively about the challenges in his life, including his addictions and struggle to cope with the 1972 car accident that killed his mother and sister and critically injured him and his brother, Beau Biden He also lived much of his life in the shadow of Beau, the former Delaware attorney general who died of brain cancer in 2015, at the age of 46.

Hunter kept a low profile during the 2020 presidential campaign but has recently taken on a more public role. He appeared with his father at events including the state dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron in December. And he was a nearly constant presence at the president’s side at nearly every stop during last month’s trip to Ireland, their ancestral homeland.

But there have been recent sightings that serve as a reminder of the unfortunate headlines that he can sometimes create. Hunter Biden appeared in an Arkansas courtroom last month as part of a bitter dispute with the mother of his 4-year-old child over reducing his child support payments. The mother of the child, Lunden Roberts, has accused the younger Biden of ignoring court orders to provide information about his finances and has asked a judge to declare him in contempt and have him jailed until he complies.

At an artificial intelligence roundtable event in California, the president offered only a brief comment when asked about Hunter’s plea deal: “I’m very proud of my son.”