Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice.
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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.
The end 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 own trial 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.) said Biden’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 the affidavit detailing the 37-count indictment against him, instructing aides to hide the material from federal agents.
President Biden ordered 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.
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MODI’S VISIT — IT’S COMPLICATED: Biden plans to pull out all the stops for Indian Prime Minister NARENDRA MODI’s visit this week, which includes a state dinner Thursday, Jonathan Lemire reports. The president’s welcome has been met with criticism from human rights advocates, as Modi’s leadership in India has resulted in a crackdown on journalists and political opposition leaders.
Privately, White House officials acknowledge politics are at play. “India is viewed as a crucial partner in the United States’ rivalry with China,” Lemire writes. “More broadly, the global contest between democracies and autocracies has defined Biden’s foreign policy and the president has made the decision to cozy up to the region’s democracy, even if it is a deeply flawed one.”
STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE: Ahead of his visit, Modi spoke to WSJ’s RAJESH ROY, BRENDAN MORAN and GORDON FAIRCLOUGH about his nation’s relationships with the U.S. and China, the Russian-Ukraine conflict and his leadership style. “There is an unprecedented trust” between the leaders of the U.S. and India, he said. Read the full interview here.
WHCA ELECTION EVE: The 417 members of the White House Correspondents’ Association will receive their electronic ballots Wednesday morning for this year’s election, in which three of the board’s nine seats are up for grabs. Unsurprisingly, a lot of last-minute campaign activity took place Tuesday at Tatte, where several candidates met with their colleagues, including CBS News’ WEIJIA JIANG, one of two correspondents seeking the organization’s presidency in two years (the other is USA Today’s FRANCESCA CHAMBERS). Both contenders for the board’s print seat, the LA Times’ COURTNEY SUBRAMANIAN and Daily Mail’s EMILY GOODIN, were also on hand, each spending 30 minutes with a group of foreign correspondents.
Our votes could have been bought for a croque madame. But no one offered.
WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by CNN’s JEREMY DIAMOND about how the White House is taking seriously the potential risks of AI. “This is not an area that you can take years to get your arms around or regulate. You’ve got to measure time in weeks,” chief of staff JEFF ZIENTS says in the piece. “Speed is really important here. If one acts too slowly, you’re going to be behind by the time you take action, and your action is going to be leapfrogged by the technology.” Communications director BEN LABOLT and deputy communications director HERBIE ZISKEND shared the piece on Twitter ahead of the president’s meeting on Tuesday with AI experts in San Francisco.
WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This WSJ data analysis by JON KAMP and SHANNON NAJMABADI that shows the number of homeless people rising. “The Journal reviewed data from 150 entities that count homeless people in areas ranging from cities to entire states. More than 100 places reported increases in early 2023 counts compared with 2022, and collectively, their numbers indicate the U.S. might see a sharper climb than in recent years,” they write.
“The increases underscore what advocates for the homeless say is pressure from high housing costs and the end of temporary pandemic-era protections, such as eviction moratoriums.”
‘JUNK FEE’ FIGHT, CONTINUED: Biden, in a statement Tuesday, praised the Federal Communication Commission’s move to direct TV providers to make charges more transparent to customers. Although the agency is independent from the executive branch, the move plays into the administration’s larger efforts to tackle “hidden” or “junk” fees and bolster consumer protections, our JOHN HENDEL reports for Pro subscribers.
A QUICK RECAP: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN met Monday with Chinese President XI JINPING in Beijing, where the secretary was welcomed “with a great deal of dignity,” according to the U.S. ambassador to China, NICHOLAS BURNS. Blinken’s visit may have been designed to ease the latest U.S.-China tensions, but NYT’s DAVID PIERSON and EDWARD WONG report “it also highlighted the fact that important dialogue between the two nations remains imperiled by China’s attitude over Taiwan and the widening military and economic rivalry.”
WHERE THE BEER FLOWS LIKE WINE: Second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF is going to a little place called Aspen this weekend for the annual Ideas Festival, which announced the addition of his panel Tuesday. Emhoff will discuss the rise of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. and the administration’s first ever national strategy to counter antisemitism. He’ll be joined on stage by Homeland Security adviser LIZ SHERWOOD-RANDALL. KATIE COURIC will moderate the discussion.
TEXAS, FOREVER [A NUISANCE FOR BIDEN]: To advance its climate goals, the Biden administration is going to have to work with the Republican-led Texas Railroad Commission, an agency that oversees and approves fossil fuel companies methane releases — a gas the administration has sought to regulate.
The White House may run into a few obstacles though, as the three Republican commissioners have voiced their opposition for the administration’s methane regulations and are “financially enmeshed with the same industry, with connections that include campaign contributions, business income and ownership of company stock,” our BEN LEFEBVRE reports.
CYBERTHREAT TEAM ASSEMBLE: The Department of Justice announced the creation of a new team within its National Security Division aimed at investigating cyberthreats, our JOHN SAKELLARIADIS reports. The team of cybersecurity litigators will “work with U.S. prosecutors and FBI field agents across the country to handle cases involving state-affiliated cyber criminals, nation-state hackers and money launders.”
HISTORIC SANCTIONS: The Treasury Department on Tuesday announced sanctions “on a South Sudanese military officer and governor accused in connection with the rapes of hundreds of women and girls. They are the first U.S. sanctions issued with a dedicated focus on conflict-related sexual violence,” AP’s FATIMA HUSSEIN reports.
Vice President KAMALA HARRIS on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” with JOY REID at 7 p.m. EST.
Joe Biden’s long-standing support for Hunter Biden on display following plea deal (CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Arlette Saenz and Jeremy Diamond)
Beijing Plans a New Training Facility in Cuba, Raising Prospect of Chinese Troops on America’s Doorstep (WSJ’s By Warren P. Strobel, Gordon Lubold, Vivian Salama and Michael R. Gordon)
Ukraine wants commitment on NATO membership bid (POLITICO Europe’s Lili Bayer)
President BILL CLINTON had a jogging track installed in 1993, though it didn’t last long, as it was removed in 2008 during the Obama administration.
Clinton’s “morning jogging forays in Washington routinely caused traffic problems and subjected him to shouted questions from reporters,” according to CBS News. “He figured a jogging track would let him run out of doors without leaving the White House grounds. Made of 4,000 crushed tires, the track cost $30,000 and was paid for by contributions collected by the National Park Foundation.”
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Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.