On Friday, a judge appointed by President Joe Biden condemned the apparent duplicity of the Justice Department.

The action in question was in their permitting attorneys involved in the Biden family investigation to evade subpoenas, as Fox News reported.

The attorneys' actions were particularly frustrating because former Trump advisor Peter Navarro is incarcerated for the same offense.

The Judge's Take

During a status conference, District Judge Ana Reyes criticized the Department of Justice for preventing DOJ attorneys Mark Daly and Jack Morgan from testifying in support of the House Judiciary Committee's investigation into the Biden family and the president's impeachment.

"There’s a person in jail right now because you all brought a criminal lawsuit against him because he did not appear for a House subpoena," Reyes said during a hearing on the Judiciary Committee’s lawsuit, according to Politico, seemingly referring to Navarro.

Navarro was convicted of contempt of Congress and sentenced to four months in prison in March. He had refused to cooperate with a congressional subpoena that sought his testimony and papers about the riots on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Despite the courts rejecting Trump's claim of presidential privilege, Navarro insisted he could not participate with the committee looking into the attack on January 6.

Other Congressional Charges

Similar contempt of Congress charges resulted in a four-month term for former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who was granted bail pending his appeal.

"I think it’s quite rich you guys pursue criminal investigations and put people in jail for not showing up," but then direct current executive branch employees to take the same approach, Reyes blasted.

"You all are making a bunch of arguments that you would never accept from any other litigant. And now you guys are flouting those subpoenas. . . . And you don’t have to show up?" Reyes continued.

National Impact

The judge went on to say that the Justice Department's position would delight defense attorneys all over the country.

"I imagine that there are hundreds, if not thousands of defense attorneys . . . who would be happy to hear that DOJ’s position is, if you don’t agree with a subpoena, if you believe it’s unconstitutional or unlawful, you can unilaterally not show up," Reyes said.

Justice Department tax division attorneys Daly and Morgan were summoned for their "firsthand knowledge of the irregularities in DOJ’s investigation that appear to have benefited Hunter Biden," as reported by Courthouse News Service.

During Hunter Biden's time on the board of Ukrainian company Burisma in 2014 and 2015, the committee claims that the two were part of a team that suggested what charges to press against him for possible tax offenses.