Each federal indictment against former President Donald Trump has been revealed on the same day or soon after a congressional investigation makes significant findings about the Biden family finances, and some Republicans say the timing is more than a coincidence.
On Tuesday, special counsel Jack Smith indicted Mr. Trump on four federal criminal counts in connection with his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The indictment was revealed a day after Devon Archer, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, testified that President Biden spoke to his son’s business associates nearly two dozen times. The testimony directly contradicted Mr. Biden’s claims that he had no knowledge about his son’s business dealings.
Archer also testified that the executive of a Ukrainian energy company pressured Hunter Biden to enlist U.S. support for ousting the prosecutor investigating the company for corruption. The executive allegedly told an FBI informant that he was “coerced” into paying $10 million in bribes to Mr. Biden and his son.
“It is no coincidence that every time House Republicans’ investigations into the Biden family influence peddling scheme uncover new facts that Biden’s corrupt [Department of Justice] announces new charges against his leading political opponent in a desperate attempt to distract the American people,” said House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York. “This is an unconstitutional abuse of power.”
The latest in a series of indictments against Mr. Trump was announced after House Republicans made a major revelation about Mr. Biden and his family’s questionable overseas business deals, which critics say smack of influence peddling.
House Republicans also are looking into whether Mr. Biden, while vice president in the Obama administration, received a $5 million bribe from a Ukrainian energy executive to scuttle a corruption investigation into a company where Hunter Biden sat on the board.
Among key events that have lined up:
• The Justice Department unsealed its indictment against Mr. Trump in its classified documents investigation on the same day that House Republicans viewed an FBI document detailing allegations that Mr. Biden took a bribe.
• Mr. Trump received a letter saying he was the target of an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol two days after IRS whistleblowers testified to Congress that the FBI and IRS sabotaged the Hunter Biden tax investigation.
• A superseding indictment against Mr. Trump in the classified documents case and an indictment against the maintenance manager at Mar-a-Lago were revealed the day after Hunter Biden’s plea deal on tax and weapons charges unraveled in federal court. According to court records, both indictments were filed under seal a month earlier.
• The day after Archer testified that Mr. Biden sat on calls with Hunter Biden’s business associates, the Justice Department announced an indictment against Mr. Trump in connection with his efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 election and events surrounding the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
“Now that the Bidens are reportedly involved in a bribery scheme with a foreign nation, the DOJ and blue state governments are once again targeting President Trump and anyone who dares to get in the left’s way. That’s not a coincidence,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, said in a statement provided to The Times.
Peter Carr, a spokesperson for Mr. Smith, declined to comment.
Some Justice Department veterans say it is hard to time the indictments to coincide with breaking news because an investigation as sensitive and high-profile as those targeting Mr. Trump would require numerous approvals and signoffs.
“Prosecutors have their own considerations and own view of the Donald Trump investigations, and there are so many moving parts. I have trouble thinking some other investigation is impacting their timing,” said former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey.
Others say the timing is unusual.
On July 26, the plea deal in Hunter Biden’s federal criminal case unraveled when U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned whether a provision essentially amounted to a get-out-of-jail-free card.
The next day, Mr. Smith announced further charges against Mr. Trump and said the maintenance manager at Mar-a-Lago was another defendant in the classified documents case. Both indictments were filed under seal on June 8, raising questions about their revelations so soon after the Hunter Biden court appearance.
“It does defy skepticism to think that all these things aren’t happening with some degree of coordination,” said Joseph Moreno, a former federal prosecutor. “I don’t see any other explanation for why the Justice Department chose to release the superseding indictment that evening. They could have done it the next day or the next week. There was no rush for it.”
Even if the dates are just “honest coincidences,” Mr. Moreno said, it still creates the perception that the announcements about Mr. Trump are strategically timed and undermines the public’s faith in the judiciary system.
On June 8, Mr. Smith hit Mr. Trump with his first federal indictment for his handling of sensitive government materials. Earlier in the day, the FBI agreed to allow all House Oversight and Accountability Committee members full access to a confidential document detailing an unverified allegation that Mr. Biden accepted a bribe while serving as vice president.
“The SAME DAY [the House oversight committee] is shown a document by the FBI showing evidence that Biden and his son were each paid $5 million by a foreign national the DOJ indicts Trump. Coincidental? I think not,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Florida Republican and committee member, said in a Twitter post.
Mr. Trump revealed on July 18 that he had received a letter informing him that he was a target of the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation. It was the day before a pair of IRS whistleblowers told Congress that the Biden administration meddled in the Hunter Biden tax investigation.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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