BREAKING: Brave Judge REJECTS Hunter Biden Sweetheart Plea Deal

UPDATE [2 p.m.]

After much discussion and back-and-forth, a federal judge has declined to accept Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal. The deal would have allowed Biden to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax evasion charges and would have disposed of a felony gun charge. The president’s son was expected to get off with a couple of years of probation and a promise not to drink or do drugs and to enter a diversion program to make the gun charges go away.

But Delaware Federal District Judge Maryellen Noreika objected to the nature of the deal from the beginning. She questioned lawyers during the hearing about her many concerns: Why was the deal presented to her as a binding plea with global immunity, the terms of which she could not modify? Why was a tax plea linked to a firearms charge? What about FARA charges for Biden, who had clearly been acting as a foreign agent? Noreika asked if Hunter Biden was still under investigation and was told he was. She also noted that the diversion program deal was “unusual,” saying it included “non-standard terms” like “broad immunity” from other potential charges.

Fox News’s Griff Jenkins reported from the courthouse:

We now know that Judge Norieka is not going to accept the plea agreement. And as we were talking about just a moment ago, it’s got to do — Judge Noreika does not believe that — she has questions over the constitutionality of that diversion clause, of the immunity that Hunter Biden would receive in this deal to not prosecute on the gun charge. She is not okay with that.

So the headline here is she has not accepted the plea deal. That would likely indicate we could be headed for a trial.

[…]

Hunter Biden in the early part of, of today’s court hearing said he was prepared to plead guilty to the two misdemeanor tax evasion charges. Not going to happen. Judge Noreika not accepting the plea deal, questioning the constitutionality of the diversion clause that kept him from being prosecuted for the felony gun charge. And she also noted, to great extent — almost as if, John, we were sitting in a law classroom — the fact that she did not like the way it was structured, and she had never seen one like this and was really questioning how it was that the prosecution and the defense came to this agreement, challenging specific parts, portions, paragraphs of the agreement and the language therein.

And that will certainly lead some to comment — particularly perhaps the House Republicans that have been saying from the beginning that this was a sweetheart deal, the judge saying that she was not okay with the diversion clause portion of this plea deal. That is why she is not accepting the plea today.

🚨 BREAKING: Judge DENIES Hunter Biden plea deal, pleads ‘not guilty’ pic.twitter.com/ET54tXbw9M

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 26, 2023

At this point, Republicans must insist on the appointment of a Special Counsel — with input on who gets the job — to get to the bottom of this. How much more evidence do we need to see to know that the administration is crooked and the establishment will do whatever it needs to protect its own?

If you need me, I’ll be over here fantasizing about former President Barry Obama being forced to testify under oath about his involvement in the business dealings of his Ukrainian point man, Joe Biden …

UPDATE [12:45 ET]

After dramatic negotiations and two recesses, Delaware Federal District Judge Maryellen Noreika has accepted a modified version of the Hunter Biden sweetheart plea deal. The new deal will resolve the investigation and charges into Biden’s drug use, tax evasion, and firearm infractions.

Breitbart is reporting that the new deal is “‘much more limited in scope’ than first submitted — allowing federal prosecutors to pursue charges for crimes aside from the drug use, tax evasion, and firearm offense that Biden is admitting to in today’s plea.”

Presumably this will leave the door open for additional investigation and charges into the president’s son’s possible Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) violations as well as alleged bribery and influence peddling schemes.

ORIGINAL POST

A widely panned plea deal that would allow Hunter Biden to plead guilty to two misdemeanors for failing to pay millions in federal taxes and would “resolve” a felony gun charge is in jeopardy.

Delaware Federal District Judge Maryellen Noreika has called a second recess in the proceedings. CNN is reporting that “The judge is asking the parties to explain how the deals on the tax crimes and the gun charges fit together. … She is giving them a chance to discuss the matter amongst themselves and has called for a brief recess.”

The move follows an earlier discussion between the judge, prosecutors, and defense that concluded that there is no deal. Part of the issue seems to be that Biden failed to register as a foreign agent, which would be a FARA violation.

The drama follows last-minute machinations to sway the judge’s decision. Tuesday morning, the House Ways and Means Committee shared its investigation findings — that there was considerable interference by various federal agencies into any fair investigation and charges for President Biden’s son — with Judge Noreika. The New York Post reported:

The drama began in the morning when the House Ways and Means Committee filed an amicus brief to Delaware US District Judge Maryellen Noreika arguing that the 53-year-old had benefited from “political interference which calls into question the propriety of the investigation” into alleged crimes including money laundering, felony tax evasion and failure to register as a foreign agent.

The filing included testimony by two IRS whistleblowers who sat for transcribed interviews on May 26 and June 1.

Hunter’s legal team then apparently attempted to pull a dirty trick to get the information thrown away. In a letter to the judge, the House committee’s lead attorney, Theodore Kittila, explained what happened:

“[A]t approximately 1:30 p.m., we received word that our filing was removed from the docket. … We promptly contacted the Clerk’s office, and we were advised that someone contacted the Court representing that they worked with my office [emphasis original] and that they were asking the Court to remove this from the docket. We immediately advised that this was inaccurate. The Clerk’s Office responded that we would need to re-file. We have done so now.”

The person who fraudulently contacted the Clerk’s office turned out to be Jessica Bengels — a member of Biden’s legal team. Incredible.

CNN reported earlier on what was supposed to happen today:

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden is set to plead guilty soon to two federal misdemeanors for not paying taxes on time — a major step toward concluding the highly scrutinized Justice Department investigation into his troubled finances.

Previous court filings indicate that Hunter Biden will admit to two misdemeanors for not paying federal taxes on time in 2017 and 2018, and he will also enter into a deal with prosecutors that would resolve a felony gun charge.

As part of the plea agreement, Justice Department prosecutors are expected to recommend a sentence of probation for the president’s son. District Judge Maryellen Noreika – a Donald Trump appointee who was confirmed unanimously by the Senate – will preside over Wednesday’s hearing and has the sole authority to decide Hunter Biden’s punishment.

A sentencing date will likely be scheduled during the plea hearing.