Trump Says He Wouldn’t Do a Plea Deal, Calls Hunter Biden Special Counsel ‘Stupid’

Donald Trump has been indicted three times and faces the likelihood of a fourth, but he says he’s never going to bargain for a lenient sentence

“I don’t do plea deals. We did nothing wrong,” Trump told reporters at the Des Moines Airport after he campaigned at the Iowa State Fair.

“We don't ever take a plea deal,” he repeated without further prompting. “We don't take plea deals. It’s a wiseguy question, Mr. Wiseguy. We don’t take plea deals because because I did nothing wrong.”

Trump was first indicted in April by Manhattan’s district attorney in an alleged hush money case involving a porn star. He was then indicted by federal prosecutors for allegedly possessing national security records without authorization and obstructing justice. Last month, the same federal prosecutor charged him for his role in the Jan. 6 case. A Georgia prosecutor might also charge him next for alleged election interference in the 2020 election.

Trump didn’t mention the state cases and instead spoke only about the federal special counsel, Jack Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, an appointee of President Joe Biden, whom Trump is running against.

“It’s called election interference,” Trump said. “These indictments are brought out by Biden, who can't even put two sentences together. This is Joe Biden because he can't win the election by himself. Can't win the election based on votes. Yes, they got the Attorney General to do it.”

Biden has denied any involvement in the indictments, although the New York Times has reported that the president has told advisers he believes Trump broke the law.

Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is under federal investigation in a tax case. He was supposed to plea, but the agreement fell apart and the assistant U.S. attorney in the case has now been appointed special counsel overseeing the prosecution as Congress investigates whether Hunter Biden was unlawfully enriched in foreign business dealings when his father was vice president from 2009-2017.

“How stupid they acted yesterday with the appointment of the special counsel,” Trump said without elaborating. “That was being laughed at all over the world.”

Republicans in Congress had for months pressed Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel in the Hunter Biden case. But after the announcement that U.S. Attorney David Weiss would be named special counsel, many Republicans lashed out, alleging that the appointment was a tactic to obstruct Congress's investigations of Hunter Biden and the Biden family.