Hunter Biden Plea Deal Sidelined As Judge Raises Concerns About Terms — Update

Ted Johnson
·4 min read
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UPDATED: Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges after a judge declined to sign off on a plea agreement between the president’s son and prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika cited concerns over an agreement in which Biden would enter a diversion program as part of a deal having to do with another charge, for felony possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of, or addicted to a controlled substance, according to CNN. The judge raised constitutional issues about the gun diversion agreement.

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The judge indicated that she would schedule a future hearing, essentially putting the plea deal on hold. She gave both sides 30 days to submit briefs addressing her concerns, deferring a decision on the plea in the interim.

Her decision to put the deal on hold was a surprise, and came after the deal appeared to fall apart earlier in the day. Biden’s attorneys believed that the plea deal would mean that he would not face future charges. The Justice Department, however, has said that the investigation is ongoing, and prosecutors declined to rule out future charges.

Eventually, the two sides appeared to resolve their differences, according to CNN, with Biden’s team agreeing to more limited plea terms that would cover charges related to his drug use, firearm possession and taxes, while the investigation would be ongoing.

PREVIOUSLY: A plea agreement between the Justice Department and Hunter Biden fell apart on Wednesday after the federal judge overseeing the case raised concerns over the terms, the AP and other news outlets reported on Wednesday.

Biden was to plead guilty to two tax violations in an agreement with prosecutors, a deal that stoked furor on the right as it tries to link the president’s son’s business dealings to Joe Biden himself.

The terms of the deal were revealed last month in a letter that U.S. Attorney David Weiss sent to the judge. Biden will plead guilty to two counts of failure to pay federal income tax. He also has agreed to enter a diversion agreement related to another charge, for felony possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of, or addicted to a controlled substance.

According to CNN, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika began questioning the agreement, but it raised a rift between prosecutors and Biden’s defense team on whether the deal foreclosed the possibility of additional charges. Prosecutors said that their investigation was ongoing and that Biden could face additional charges related to acting as an unregistered foreign lobbyist. Biden’s legal team said that the plea agreement meant that potential charges were foreclosed.

Both sides are continuing to meet, but the unexpected turn dominated the morning news cycle.

Earlier, a Fox News chyron read, “Hunter Biden Due In Court For ‘Sweetheart’ Plea Deal,” as cable networks trained their cameras on the federal courthouse in Wilmington, in expectation that Noreika would sign off on the agreement. But after an hour, word came from reporters in the courtroom that the deal was in doubt.

When the plea deal was announced, House Republicans quickly claimed that Hunter Biden was getting off easy because of his father. The federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings started in 2018 while Weiss, a Trump appointee who was kept in his position when Biden became president, has denied allegations of undue influence. Two IRS whistleblowers, however, claimed in a hearing last week that the Justice Department slow walked the investigation and stymied efforts to file felony charges against Hunter Biden. The Justice Department has offered to make Weiss available to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. Weiss has said that he was granted “ultimately authority” over the investigation, including on “where, when and whether” to file charges.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week floated the possibility that Republicans may launch an impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden over unproven claims of corruption by Biden family members. But on Wednesday, McCarthy reportedly told the GOP conference that the House investigation of the Biden’s had not yet risen to “that level” for impeachment, per Politico, citing a source in the meeting.

White House spokesman Ian Sams responded, “Will there now be a sweeping national media news cycle about Speaker McCarthy, just over 24 hours after floating an impeachment inquiry, now apparently admitting ‘oops nevermind’?”

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