Hunter Biden's expected plea deal fell apart, McConnell escorted from cameras: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Hunter Biden's expected plea deal fell apart, leading to his not guilty plea

USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Bart Jansen on how Hunter Biden's expected plea deal fell apart, leading to his not guilty plea. Plus, Mitch McConnell was escorted away from cameras after freezing in the middle of a news conference, the Fed raises interest rates 0.25 point, opening the door to another hike despite easing inflation, Rudy Giuliani concedes he made false statements about two Georgia election workers, and USA TODAY Education Editor Nirvi Shah on a Department of Education civil rights inquiry into legacy admissions at Harvard.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Dana Taylor:

Good morning and welcome to 5 Things. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Thursday, July 27th 2023. Hunter Biden's expected plea deal fell apart, Mitch McConnell was escorted away from cameras after freezing in the middle of a news conference, and the Fed raises interest rates and opens the door to another hike, despite easing inflation.

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Hunter Biden was in federal court yesterday in Wilmington, Delaware. We're joined by USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Bart Jansen. Bart, I know it's been a hectic news day covering the Hunter Biden case. I can hear the busy newsroom behind you. Thanks for carving out time to join us today.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

Dana Taylor:

So Hunter Biden was in court yesterday morning and I believe the expectation when the day started was that this would be a pro forma appearance since there was a plea deal in place. Bart, what was that plea deal and what happened in court?

Bart Jansen:

Yeah, the expectation was that he was going to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes back in 2017 and 2018 when he made a couple of million dollars each year. The prosecutor said that his accountants did fill out his taxes, but he never paid them. So he was going to admit that and there was some expectation that the prosecutors were going to recommend probation, so he was going to be able to resolve this investigation, which has been going on for five years now without having any jail time. But as the hearing unfolded, as the federal judge asked him questions about whether he understood the charges and whether there had been any promises made, the hearing went off the rails.

Dana Taylor:

So I have to ask you to tell us what went off the rails means, what happened?

Bart Jansen:

There's a second case pending against him having to do with a gun charge. He possessed a 38 caliber pistol in 2018, and in buying that, he filled out a form that said that he was not a drug addict. In fact, he was quite a drug addict at the time. He acknowledged in his own memoir that he was smoking crack every 15 minutes in that period. He also acknowledged in court today that he's battled alcoholism, although he says he has been sober since 2019. But so, that gun charge is pending in a second case overseen by the same judge. He told the judge, well, yes, he's pleading guilty to this case, but he thinks it's related to the gun case as well, and that he expects in the gun case that he will be placed in a pretrial diversion program so that if he completes the requirements of that program, that that charge will be wiped off the slate entirely.

So again, aiming to have no jail time for both cases, but he considers the two cases related. When the judge turned to the prosecutors and said, "Well, are they related?" The prosecutor, the assistant US attorney, said, "No, they are not related." Then one of Biden's lawyers, Christopher Clark, stood up and said, "Well then we'll rip it up and just tear up the plea agreement." That left the judge saying, "Well, you guys sort it out." She thought that they might still reach a negotiated agreement today. After two recesses and a several hour hearing, they were not able to resolve her concerns entirely. She said she wants to take a closer look at the plea agreement and she asked them to file written arguments within 30 days so that she can better understand the deal. But she did ask for additional filings to justify the plea agreement within the next month.

If those briefings are posted in the public court file, we'll get to see more about the details of what they're discussing and have a better idea about what the agreement is, as Hunter returns to court at a date that has not yet been scheduled.

Dana Taylor:

So Republicans were critical of the plea deal to start with. What was their main issue?

Bart Jansen:

Well, they've criticized it as too weak. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has called it a sweetheart deal. The Chairman of the House Oversight Committee representative James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, has called it a slap on the wrist. Representative Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican who heads the Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax issues, they had a joint hearing with Comer last week with two IRS whistleblowers saying that their investigation had been curtailed. So basically they're accusing the Biden administration of political favoritism and curtailing the investigation to help the son of the President, Hunter Biden. The highest prosecutor in this case, US Attorney David Weiss, has denied that there is any political favoritism. He is a Trump appointee. He said he was able to investigate the case any way he wanted to. So the White House has also said that they've kept their hands off this investigation.

Dana Taylor:

Bart Jansen, always good to have you on the show.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

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Dana Taylor:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was escorted away from a lectern by Republican colleagues during a press conference on Wednesday. McConnell was giving an opening statement when he abruptly stopped speaking and stood silently for several seconds. McConnell, who is 81 years old, appeared to be unable to start speaking again as other senators helped him move away from the lectern. This episode comes after he was hospitalized in March for a concussion he suffered from a fall at a hotel in Washington. When McConnell returned to the lectern, a reporter asked if he would address what happened and if it was related to his previous injury. He told the reporter, "No, I'm fine."

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Despite a recent pullback in inflation, the Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by a quarter point Wednesday and signaled another hike is at least on the table, if not likely, in coming months. The move nudged the federal funds rate to a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, the highest level in 22 years. In a statement, the Fed repeated that, determining the extent of additional rate increases to lower inflation to the Fed's 2% target will hinge on inflation as well as economic and financial developments, among other factors. At a news conference, Fed chair Jerome Powell acknowledged inflation slowed down in June, but added that while it's "welcome, it's just one report, one month of data." He said the process of lowering inflation has a long way to go.

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Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani conceded that he made false statements about two Georgia election workers he accused of rigging the 2020 election and counting extra votes. His latest court filing Tuesday is an attempt to resolve their litigation against him. He also says he refuses to accept his statements caused damage to the plaintiffs, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who said they faced harassment and death threats after former President Donald Trump accused them of election fraud. Giuliani maintains his latest admission should not affect his argument that his statements about the 2020 election are constitutionally protected by the First Amendment. Giuliani is continuing to fight to dismiss the lawsuit.

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The Biden administration has opened an investigation into Harvard's use of legacy admissions policies, granting preference to relatives of alumni. For more on the story, I'm now joined by Nirvi Shah, USA TODAY'S Education Editor. Hi Nirvi, thanks for joining me today.

Nirvi Shah:

Thanks so much for having me.

Dana Taylor:

So this inquiry by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights follows complaints by several nonprofit groups. Who are they and what are they accusing Harvard of doing?

Nirvi Shah:

So, these are three nonprofit groups, largely from the greater Boston area, that work with students who are college bound or would like to be college bound. They say that legacy admissions at Harvard, which also exist at lots of other universities, are the same kind of discrimination that affirmative action was considered to be by the Supreme Court late last month. That they favor white students, they favor students who are wealthy, and that's just simply unfair in the same way that affirmative action was found to be unfair by the Supreme Court.

Dana Taylor:

So the complaint cited research. Who did that research and what did they say?

Nirvi Shah:

So interestingly, some of the research that they're now able to cite actually became public, and some of the data analysis that was done was because of the court case against Harvard and the University of North Carolina. Some of that research was actually done by researchers at some Ivy League institutions. Some of the numbers that they came away with are pretty startling. They showed that 70% of applicants who are related to donors or have a connection with a donor are white. 70% of applicants who are legacy applicants who have a relationship with someone who's an alumnus of Harvard are white. And that these legacy applicants are six times more likely to be admitted than some other students. So they feel like the playing field simply is unfair from the beginning.

Dana Taylor:

Blockbuster new study by several economists about admissions advantages to elite private colleges just came out on Monday. What did that study reveal?

Nirvi Shah:

So that basically said that the folks that are getting into some of the nation's most elite schools, not exclusively Ivy League universities, but Ivy Leagues plus some other extremely selective institutions, tend to become the nation's top earners, which may not sound like a surprise, but that's one more reason why access to these universities is even that more coveted. And the applicants who get in tend to be wealthier than other people in the first place, so they have a distinct advantage when they do get in. There's been other research that's shown that even among the applicants of color and the students who are admitted who are students of color to highly selective colleges and universities tend to be people of means, families of means. So it's not necessarily the most needy students who are getting in strictly on merit, but there is a wealth element to some of those that are admitted as well, which may surprise people.

Dana Taylor:

So Nirvi, what's ahead for the investigation? What happens next?

Nirvi Shah:

So with the Office for Civil Rights Investigation, they simply acknowledge that they have opened an investigation and it could take a long time for us to see the results of that investigation. If it's anything like the many other cases that OCR looks into, this is a deep long process. For example, Wesleyan University said last week that it's going to end its practice of legacy admissions, and Harvard has said that it is looking holistically at its admissions processes since the Supreme Court decided to ban affirmative action in college admissions. So it could be a long time, so don't hold your breath.

Dana Taylor:

Thanks so much for your time, Nirvi.

Nirvi Shah:

Thank you.

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Dana Taylor:

And finally, outspoken singer-songwriter and pop star Sinéad O'Connor, best known for her cover of the Prince song Nothing Compares 2 U, has passed away. Sinéad O'Connor was 56 years old.

Thanks to Mark Sovel and Cherie Saunders for their production assistance. Our senior producer is Shannon Rae Green, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to podcasts@usatoday.com. Thanks for listening. I'm Dana Taylor. I'll be back filling in for Taylor Wilson tomorrow with another episode of 5 Things.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hunter Biden plea deal collapses, Fed raises interest rates: 5 Things podcast