A hearing over Hunter Biden’s plea agreement with prosecutors regarding his tax crimes, drug offenses and a firearm violation ended on Wednesday without a resolution, after a judge refused to sign off on the terms of the deal.
Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, pleaded not guilty, changing his initial plea during a hearing where the agreement was derailed. The development came after a nearly four-hour hearing during which U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika expressed concerns over the time frame of the agreement and the specific type of charges that will not be prosecuted.
The judge chastised both prosecutors and Biden’s defense lawyers for presenting her a plea deal she said suffered from procedural flaws.
Al Drago/Bloomberg
Hunter Biden’s lawyers and federal prosecutors appeared initially to have come to an agreement to limit the plea deal to apply to only tax crimes, drug offenses and a firearm violation between the years 2014 to 2019.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said there is still an ongoing investigation with the potential for other charges to be brought against Biden outside of the scope of the plea deal.
The hearing was temporarily derailed when judge Noreika said she didn’t understand what Hunter Biden could still be charged with. She asked questions that exposed a difference of understanding between Justice Department prosecutors and Biden’s lawyer, Chris Clark.
“I don’t really understand the scope” of the agreement, Noreika said. She noted that Biden has had numerous foreign business dealings. At one point, she raised a hypothetical as to whether Biden could be charged as acting as an unregistered foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Leo Wise, an assistant U.S. attorney representing the government at the hearing, said that Biden could still be charged with a FARA violation. His statement prompted Clark to object to the scope of what Biden could still be charged with.
Noreika asked the prosecutors and defense lawyers to resolve their differences about the plea agreement and temporarily adjourned the hearing.
When the hearing resumed, Wise and Clark said they were in agreement that the non-prosecution aspects of the deal will be limited to only tax violations, drug offenses and a firearm violation during the years 2014 to 2019. Biden can still be charged for crimes outside the scope of the deal.
Under the original deal, Biden had intended to plea guilty to two misdemeanor tax crimes committed in 2017 and 2018. Additionally, he was poised to enter into an agreement with federal prosecutors to avoid prison on a charge for possessing a gun while addicted to an illegal drug.
The deal, now on hold, aimed to cap a five-year investigation into Biden’s tax affairs and business dealings that culminated with federal prosecutors alleging he failed to pay more than $100,000 in income tax on at least $1.5 million in income he received in 2017 and 2018.
The proposed agreement has become a lightning rod for conservatives who claim the Justice Department failed to fully investigate the business dealings of the Biden family, including President Biden, and gave Hunter Biden politically favorable treatment.
On the eve of the plea hearing, House Republicans asked the judge to throw out the agreement reached with prosecutors, an unusual step of seeking to intervene in the case. Representative Jason Smith, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, filed a brief urging the judge to consider the testimony of two IRS workers who during a panel claimed that Hunter Biden received preferential treatment from the Justice Department, according to the filing, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg.
The Hunter Biden investigation has been seen by conservatives as representing a double standard in how the Justice Department handles explosive cases, especially compared to the investigations of former President Donald Trump, who is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president next year.
The Justice Department appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to lead investigations of Trump. Smith brought an indictment against Trump in June for allegedly mishandling classified information and obstructing justice. Smith has since sent Trump a letter informing him he’s a target of the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, which means Trump is likely to face a new round of federal charges.
In response, House Republicans have launched a series of investigations into the business dealings of Biden family members. Republicans released an FBI raw intelligence report last week as part of their latest attempt to push unverified claims that Joe and Hunter Biden engaged in corruption in Ukraine.
The investigation into Hunter Biden has been led by U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware, who was appointed by Trump and kept on by Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Weiss has said that allegations contained in the raw FBI report are part of an ongoing investigation.
