Hunter Biden is expected to plead guilty in a federal courtroom in Delaware Wednesday after his lawyers agreed to an amended deal with prosecutors that does not give Biden immunity from prosecution on other possible crimes.
In June, Biden was charged with felony gun possession and two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay taxes in 2017 and 2018. The original deal included a recommendation of probation for the tax violations, while the gun charge for illegally owning a Colt Cobra .38 Special handgun would be dropped and potentially wiped from Biden’s record if he met certain conditions laid out in court.
This is the first time the Justice Department has charged the child of a sitting president.
The deal almost fell apart entirely after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika pressed prosecutors about the terms of the unusual deal that was struck with U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware.
The New York Times reported that the judge seemed highly skeptical of offering Hunter Biden broad immunity from prosecution in perpetuity, questioning why the deal had been filed under a provision that gave her no authority to reject it. When she asked prosecutor Leo Wise if there was precedent for the kind of deal proposed, he replied, “No, your honor,” according to the Times.
When Noreika asked prosecutors if Biden would be immune from prosecution for other possible crimes, including violations related to representing foreign governments, they responded “no,” leading Hunter Biden’s legal team to say the agreement was “null and void.”
The judge called a recess during which the prosecution and the defense agreed to revise the scope of the plea deal. The deal will only cover the period from 2014-2019 and will only include conduct related to tax offenses, drug use and gun possession, CNN’s Manu Raju reported.
The issue of whether there is an ongoing investigation was germane from the day the charges were announced. Biden’s lawyer, Christopher Clark, claimed the investigation was over, but Weiss’s office clearly stated in a June press release that the investigation was ongoing.
During the hearing, the prosecution confirmed once more to Noreika that the investigation is still open.
In an interview with CNN, Senator Josh Hawley said the surprising turn of events signaled there’s potential for prosecution moving forward.
“It’s very telling that the judge intervened here and said basically, 'No, I’m not going to approve some sweeping blanket deal,'” said Hawley. "I mean, that tells you the court has serious concerns about other potential charges here, and also the scope of the deal, which has seemed outrageous from the beginning."
Republicans have decried the deal as too lenient since it was announced.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has also floated a possible impeachment inquiry over allegations President Joe Biden was connected to his son’s foreign-business dealings. The president has denied the allegations.
Comments
Post a Comment