Hunter Biden plea: Judge rejects ‘sweetheart’ deal in ‘curveball’ court hearing
Kaelan Deese Ashley Oliver
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A federal district judge in Delaware appeared poised to reject a plea agreement between Hunter Biden and prosecutors Wednesday, taking issue with the parties attaching a diversion program to avoid a felony gun charge to a guilty plea for two misdemeanor tax charges.
Hunter Biden, 53, through his attorneys, had argued the prearranged plea deal should be accepted in its entirety, and U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika acknowledged during the hearing that she realized her concerns were a “curveball” after she had been expected to accept the arrangement.
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“I am concerned you are taking provisions out of the plea agreement,” Noreika said.
She also questioned if the investigation into the younger Biden was still ongoing, to which the prosecution said it was.
“Then why are we doing this piecemeal?” Noreika responded.
The attorneys for the Justice Department then remarked they weren’t at liberty to divulge additional details about the investigation.
“As far as I’m concerned the plea agreement is null and void,” Biden attorney Chris Clark said in court.
Under earlier questioning from the judge, Hunter Biden talked about his past drug and alcohol abuse over the course of “20 years” and that he had been sober since 2019. The court then went into recess as the judge asked for more details on the plea deal arrangement.
Without the arrangement, President Joe Biden‘s son could face up to 12 months in prison and a fine of $25,000 on each tax violation count, and a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail for the felony.
The charges stem from the first son’s willful tax neglect in 2017 and 2018, when he failed to pay income taxes and owed more than $100,000 for each tax period. The felony charge stems from a 2018 incident when the president’s son lied on a gun application (ATF Form 4473) while attempting to make a purchase at a Delaware gun store.
Under an agreement with Weiss’s office announced in late June, the first son would have entered a pretrial diversion agreement for the gun charge, an alternative to prosecution that allows a defendant to avoid prison time.
Noreika, an appointee of former President Donald Trump who had bipartisan support for her appointment, was widely expected by legal experts to approve the plea deal.
The high-profile nature of the case prompted legal experts to speculate that she would likely ask numerous questions about the agreement during the hearing, to ensure the public knows she thoroughly looked into its terms.
If Noreika had signed off on the deal it would have capped a nearly five-year investigation into the younger Biden’s taxes and foreign business dealings that have been under the spotlight throughout the duration of his father’s presidency. It also marks the first time the Justice Department has brought charges against a sitting president’s child.
Republican lawmakers had slammed the plea agreement as a “sweetheart deal,” raising questions as to whether Biden was treated equally under the law compared to other defendants.
Two IRS criminal investigators bolstered Republicans’ assertions in May when they testified to the House Ways and Means Committee that Weiss was blocked from bringing harsher charges against Hunter Biden in two jurisdictions and was also denied special counsel status.
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Ways and Means chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) submitted an amicus brief one day ahead of the hearing asking the judge to consider the whistleblower testimony in deciding whether to approve the agreement. His attorney accused a member of Hunter Biden’s legal team of calling the clerk to have the testimony removed from the docket, prompting the judge to seal the docket and threaten attorney sanctions.
This is a developing story and will be updated.