Hunter Biden’s plea deal for federal tax and gun offenses collapsed during a court hearing in Delaware Wednesday after the federal judge presiding over the case raised concerns about the terms of the agreement and whether it was even constitutional.
Summary
Hunter Biden’s plea deal for federal tax and gun offenses collapsed during a court hearing in Delaware Wednesday after the federal judge presiding over the case raised concerns about the terms of the agreement and whether it was even constitutional.
- District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika adjoined the hearing after a tense, hours-long back and forth between the judge, the prosecutors and the defense over the terms of the plea deal.
- The deal would have Biden avoid prison by pleading guilty to two tax misdemeanors and agreeing to an “unusual” pretrial diversion agreement where he would avoid prison time by remaining drug-free for two years. Biden’s lawyers argued this would also grant him immunity from any other crime the DOJ was investigating.
- The prosecution disputed this, and federal prosecutor Leo Wise revealed during the hearing that the DOJ is still investigating Hunter Biden over a potential FARA violation, which could carry a penalty of up to 5 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.
- “I cannot accept the plea agreement today,” said Judge Noreika, and she refused to “rubber stamp” a plea deal she did not feel that she could endorse without additional information.
- As a result, Hunter Biden pled not guilty to the tax charges, the first time a child of a sitting president has been charged by federal prosecutors. The judges gave both parties 30 days to hash out a new deal without what she called the “non-standard terms” of the initial agreement.
- The charges are related to Biden’s failure to pay between $1.1 million and $1.5 million in federal taxes and from his decision to purchase a firearm while using crack cocaine. Had Biden not been granted the pretrial diversion agreement, he’d be looking at up to 10 years in prison on the gun charge alone.
- If the prosecution and the defense don’t reach an agreement, Hunter Biden could eventually be subjected to a criminal trial on the tax charges and could also be charged with the illegal purchase of a firearm, a felony.
- Axios reported the hearing left Hunter Biden’s legal team “stunned” as they expected the court appearance would be a “formality.” They were also “shocked” by Wise’s disclosure that prosecutors still believe they can charge Biden with FARA violations.
- The New York Times explored “how Hunter Biden’s judge came to have doubts on the deal.” Judge Noreika put the lawyers through “three-plus hours of relentless interrogation over elements of an agreement she described, variously, as ‘not standard, not what I normally see,’ possibly ‘unconstitutional,’ without legal precedent and potentially ‘not worth the paper it is printed on.’” Her “scouring skepticism” stunned the courtroom and she refused to, in her words, “Just rubber stamp the agreement.”
- A provision of the gun diversion agreement included language requiring the judge to determine whether Hunter Biden failed to meet the terms of the agreement and if so, she was to inform prosecutors so they could charge Biden with the gun crime. According to the Washington Post, the judge questioned whether such a provision is even lawful, saying “I have concerns about the constitutionality of this provision, so I have concerns about the constitutionality of this agreement.”
- The Wall Street Journal noted that should Judge Noreika decide to nix the plea deal in its entirety, Hunter Biden would go on trial for the charges against him at around the same time former President Donald Trump’s classified documents trial could begin.
- National Review’s Jim Geraghty highlighted yet another Hunter Biden scandal involving his “ludicrously expensive paintings.” It turns out one of the buyers is Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, a Democratic Party donor who Biden later appointed to a federal government commission.
- Breitbart reported that because Hunter has decided to plead not guilty and must return to court later, Judge Noreika imposed release conditions on him that, if violated, could see him jailed. These conditions include prohibiting the younger Biden from consuming any drugs or alcohol.
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© Dominic Moore, 2023
