民主党人周日试图淡化华盛顿方面的分歧上周对亨特·拜登的起诉而共和党人抓住了这一发展。
在周日公共事务节目中，民主党高层指出，缺乏确凿的证据来支持共和党的指控，即总统直接从他儿子的商业交易中获利或影响他的儿子，同时暗示共和党试图转移对更重要问题的注意力。
亨特·拜登上周在特拉华州被联邦检察官指控涉嫌在2018年买枪时谎报吸毒。大约在同一时间，正如他后来在回忆录中大量写到的那样，他染上了毒瘾。
检察官今年夏天在法庭上说，他仍在接受调查。
他的律师在周五的“早安美国”节目中争辩说，他们认为该法令正在被使用在他的案例中是“违宪的”指控将被驳回。
“亨特·拜登有权享有无罪推定。这件事现在正由法庭审理。让我们看看进展如何，”众议院少数党领袖、纽约州的哈基姆·杰弗里斯说在美国广播公司的“本周”节目中说道
当被“本周”节目主持人Jonathan Karl问及杰弗里斯是否同意亨特·拜登律师的说法，即“如果这不是总统的儿子，就不会提出指控”时，杰弗里斯转移了话题。
他说:“我认为更重要的是，乔·拜登总统继续领导我们前进，专注于重要的事情，建设一个从中间到外、从下到上为普通美国人服务的经济，并致力于创造一个让每个邮编的每个美国人都能真正体验美国梦的局面。”
杰弗里斯告诉卡尔，“如果起诉表明，正如拜登总统和他的政府一贯所说的那样，总统、政府和司法部之间没有互动。”
前民主党全国委员会主席唐娜·巴西勒(Donna Brazile)在“本周”节目中承认，民主党人对最新的起诉“感到沮丧”，但人们的注意力主要集中在寻求破坏白宫的共和党人身上。
共和党议员长期以来一直在调查拜登总统是否在他儿子的商业交易中做了任何非法的事情，但没有任何证据表明他有不当行为。
总统的助手们认为这种怀疑是毫无根据的党派偏见。
2023年7月26日，亨特·拜登在特拉华州威尔明顿出庭后离开。
胡里奥·科尔特斯/美联社，档案
周二，议长凯文·麦卡锡宣布众议院共和党人将对总统发起弹劾调查。
周日，当记者问及他对调查的反应时，拜登总统说“祝你好运”
“他们想把水搅浑。底线是，民主党人必须保持专注。亨特·拜登不能凌驾于法律之上。像唐纳德·特朗普一样，在被证明有罪之前，他是无辜的，”巴西勒在“本周”节目中说
民调显示，大量选民同意共和党的攻击路线。A昆尼皮亚克大学调查本月早些时候发现，一半的选民认为拜登总统参与了亨特·拜登与中国和乌克兰的商业交易，而40%的人认为总统没有参与。
在那次民意调查中，35%的选民认为总统参与其中并做了一些违法的事情，而13%的人认为他参与其中并做了一些不道德但不违法的事情。
与此同时，共和党人抨击了亨特·拜登的指控，同时声称他面临的枪支犯罪指控让总统轻松脱身，因为他们继续声称其他不当行为。
“这是唯一一项不影响乔·拜登的指控，”前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)在美国全国广播公司(NBC)的“与媒体见面”(Meet the Press)节目中说，他对自己的刑事指控不认罪“这是枪费。但是持枪指控是非常严重的。”
众议院共和党领导层成员、纽约州众议员埃利斯·斯特凡尼克(Elise Stefanik)吹捧最近宣布的对总统的弹劾调查。
“我相信透明和善治对任何国会都非常非常重要，”她在“福克斯新闻频道周日”上说“我相信拜登家族，包括当时的副总统乔·拜登，深深地卷入了这一关系。”
前众议员亚当·金辛格。，他的老同事说，风险高估自己的手，但是。
“共和党今年花了这么多时间谈论亨特·拜登，他们本来可以谈论支出，”他在CNN上说，指的是即将到来的政府拨款截止日期。
Democrats seek to separate President Biden from son Hunter's indictment as Republicans pounce
Democrats on Sunday sought to play down the ramifications in Washington fromlast week's indictment of Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, while Republicans seized on the development.
In appearances on the Sunday public affairs show circuit, top Democrats noted the lack of firm evidence to back up Republicans' allegations that the president directly profited off of or influenced his son's business dealings while suggesting that the GOP is trying to distract from more important issues.
Hunter Biden was charged by federal prosecutors last week in Delaware for allegedly lying about his drug use when he bought a gun in 2018. Around that same time -- as he later wrote extensively in his memoir -- he was addicted to drugs.
He remains under investigation, prosecutors said in court this summer.
His attorney argued on "Good Morning America" on Friday that they believe the statute being usedis "unconstitutional" in his caseand the charges will be dismissed.
"Hunter Biden is entitled to the presumption of innocence. The matter is before a court of law right now. And let’s see how it proceeds," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New Yorksaid on ABC's "This Week."
Asked by "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl about whether Jeffries agreed with Hunter Biden's attorneys that the charges wouldn't "have been brought if this was not the president’s son," Jeffries deflected.
"I think what’s more important is that President Joe Biden continues to lead us forward, to focus on the things that matter, to build an economy that works for everyday Americans that’s built from the middle out and the bottom up, and to lean into creating a situation where every single American in every single zip code can truly experience the American dream," he said.
Jeffries told Karl that "if anything the indictment indicates that, as President Biden and his administration have consistently said, there is no interaction between the president, the administration and the Department of Justice."
Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile conceded on "This Week" that "there's frustration" in Democratic circles over the latest indictment but cast the attention around it as fueled largely by Republicans looking to derail the White House.
GOP lawmakers have long been probing whether President Biden did anything illegal in connection with his son's business dealings, but no evidence has emerged of wrongdoing.
The president's aides have dismissed such suspicion as baseless partisanship.
On Tuesday, Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced House Republicans would launch an impeachment inquiry into the president.
When asked by reporters on Sunday about his response to the probe, President Biden said "lots of luck."
"They're looking to muddy the waters. The bottom line is, Democrats got to stay focused. Hunter Biden is not above the law. Like Donald Trump, he's innocent until proven guilty," Brazile said on "This Week."
Polling indicates a large number of voters agree with Republicans' line of attack. AQuinnipiac University surveyearlier this month found that half of voters thought President Biden was involved in Hunter Biden’s business dealings with China and Ukraine, while 40% thought the president was not involved.
Thirty-five percent of voters in that poll believed the president was involved and did something illegal, while 13% believe he was involved and did something unethical but nothing illegal.
Republicans, meanwhile, have hammered Hunter Biden's charges while claiming the indictment he faces on the firearm offense lets the president off easy in light of their continued claims of other impropriety.
"This is the only charge that doesn’t affect Joe Biden," former President Donald Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to his own criminal charges, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "This was the gun charge. But gun charges are very serious."
Rep. Elise Stefanik, N.Y., a member of House GOP leadership, touted the recently announced impeachment inquiry into the president.
"I believe transparency and good governance is very, very important for any Congress," she said on "Fox News Sunday." "I believe that the Biden family, including then-Vice President Joe Biden, was deeply involved in this nexus."
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said his old colleagues risk overplaying their hand, however.
"The Republicans have spent so much time talking about Hunter Biden this year, and they could have been talking about spending," he said on CNN, referencing the upcoming government funding deadline.
