Former President Trump said President Biden “could be a convicted felon as soon as he gets out of office.”
Trump made the comments during the CNN Presidential Debate Thursday night.
Biden called the presumptive Republican nominee out for being a “convicted felon,” after a jury found Trump guilty on all counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in New York v. Trump last month.
But Trump defended himself.
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“When he talks about a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon at a very high level,” Trump said of Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden was found guilty this month of all federal gun charges brought against him by Special Counsel David Weiss. The first son was found guilty of making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
“His son is convicted, going to be convicted probably numerous other times, should have been convicted before. But his Justice Department let the statute of limitations lapse on the most important things,” Trump said.
Weiss also indicted Hunter Biden on federal tax charges. That trial is set to begin on Sept. 5 in California.
But Trump warned that President Biden could also be faced with charges after leaving office.
“But he could be a convicted felon as soon as he gets out of office – Joe could be a convicted felon with all of the things that he’s done. He’s done horrible things,” Trump said. “All of the deaths caused at the border, telling the Ukrainian people that we’re going to want $1 billion, you could change the prosecutor, otherwise you’re not getting $1 billion.”
Trump was referring to comments Joe Biden made while serving as vice president. Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings, and at the time, Hunter had a highly-lucrative role on the board receiving thousands of dollars per month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired.
President Joe Biden walks off stage during the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in,’ I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,’” Biden recalled telling then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Biden recollected the conversation during an event for the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018.
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“Well, son of a bitch, he got fired,” Biden said during the event. “And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.”
Biden allies maintain the then-vice president pushed for Shokin’s firing due to concerns the Ukrainian prosecutor went easy on corruption, and say that his firing, at the time, was the policy position of the U.S. and international community.
“If I ever said that, that’s quid pro quo, that we’re not going to do anything. We’re not going to give you $1 billion unless you change your prosecutor having to do with his son,” Trump said Thursday night.
Trump declared: “This man is a criminal.”
President Joe Biden (R) and Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump participate in the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. President Biden and former President Trump are facing off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign. ( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“I did nothing wrong,” Trump said. “We have a system that was rigged and disgusting. I did nothing wrong.”
Beyond the charges in New York, Trump is facing charges brought against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith stemming from his investigation into Trump’s alleged improper retention of classified business records. Smith also charged Trump out of his investigation into Jan. 6 and 2020 election interference.
Trump also faces charges stemming from an investigation brought by Fulton County, Ga. District Attorney Fani Willis.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges in all cases.
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Trump’s trial in the classified records case has been postponed indefinitely.
Trump’s Jan. 6 trial has also been postponed, and is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity and whether Trump is immune from charges brought against him by Smith.
And the Georgia Court of Appeals this month put a pause on any proceedings related to the 2020 election interference case against the former president and co-defendants until it hears a case to disqualify Fani Willis in October.