Hunter Biden's plea deal on hold after judge raises concerns
The overlapping agreements created confusion for the judge, who said the lawyers needed to untangle technical issues – including over her role in enforcing the gun agreement – before moving forward.
“It seems to me like you are saying, ‘just rubber-stamp the agreement, your Honour’. This seems to me to be form over substance,” Judge Noreika said.
She asked defence lawyers and prosecutors to explain why she should accept the deal. In the meantime, Biden pleaded not guilty to the tax charges.
The collapsed proceedings were a surprising development in the years-long investigation, and a resolution that had been carefully negotiated over several weeks and included a lengthy back-and-forth between Justice Department prosecutors and Biden’s attorneys.
The plea deal was meant to clear the air for Biden and avert a trial that would have generated weeks or months of distracting headlines. But the politics remain as messy as ever, with Republicans insisting he got a sweetheart deal and the Justice Department pressing ahead on investigations into former president Donald Trump, the GOP’s 2024 presidential primary front-runner.
Mr Trump is already facing a state criminal case in New York and a federal indictment in Florida. Last week, a target letter was sent to Mr Trump from special counsel Jack Smith that suggests the former president may soon be indicted on new federal charges, this time involving his struggle to cling to power after his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
Republicans claim a double standard, in which the Democratic President’s son got off easy, while his political rival has been unfairly castigated. Congressional Republicans are pursuing their own investigations into nearly every facet of Hunter Biden’s dealings, including foreign payments.
“District Judge Noreika did the right thing by refusing to rubber-stamp Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal,” said House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer. “But let’s be clear: Hunter’s sweetheart plea deal belongs in the trash.”
Wednesday’s hearing quickly veered into confusion, with Biden at one point answering “yes” when asked if he was pleading guilty of his own free will, before later pulling back in moving forward with the plea.
The judge said she was concerned about a provision in the agreement on the gun charge that she said would have created a role for her, where she would determine if he violated the terms.
She argued such a role doesn’t exist for judges. The lawyers said they were only asking for the court to play a fact-finding role as a neutral party in determining if a violation happened.
“We wanted the protection of the court,” said Biden’s attorney, Chris Clark.
Judge Noreika also raised concerns that the agreement included a non-prosecution clause for crimes outside the gun charge.
The attorneys appeared to squabble over the deal’s terms, too. At one point they could be heard yelling at each other. “Well, we’ll just rip it up!” Mr Clark was heard shouting.
The judge also asked Biden to be more specific about his business relationships and to discuss his substance use issues as she combed through the plea agreement. She asked him to name the Ukrainian and Chinese entities referred to without name in the agreement.
She also asked him the last time he used alcohol or drugs, and whether he was currently receiving treatment.
Biden answered June 1, 2019, and said he was not currently in treatment, though he did say he was in an anonymous support program for his substance abuse issues.
President Biden, meanwhile, has said very little publicly, except to note, “I’m very proud of my son.”
AP
