There was a lot of drama in a Delaware courtroom on Wednesday afternoon as Hunter Biden stood before a federal judge to face charges on a variety of fronts.
Despite a sweetheart plea deal worked out ahead of time by a politically-motivated Department of Justice, the presiding judge decided to make alterations to the deal and reject certain parts of it due to ongoing investigations into the Biden family.
According to Axois, Hunter Biden’s attorneys were “fuming” on Wednesday as their very protected client wasn’t treated with the same level of cover-up protection he’s been receiving from the rest of the federal bureaucracy:
Hunter Biden’s legal team was angry and dejected late Wednesday after a plea deal to help the president’s son avoid prison blew up in a chaotic, three-hour court hearing.
Why it matters: Judge Maryellen Noreika’s rejection of Biden’s plea deal on tax charges ensures that legal issues will continue to shadow Biden just as Republicans on Capitol Hill are turning up the heat in investigating him and his father.
Wednesday’s hearing also revealed a disconnect between Biden’s lawyers and prosecutors over the terms of the plea deal — and even subtle divisions among those on Biden’s side.
In reporting from ABC News, Chris Clark, an attorney for Hunter Biden, threatened to “rip up” the deal as written and start over due to the endless back-and-forth arguing:
After a brief recess, the parties moved past those disagreements. Clark acquiesced to the government’s position that any immunity of Hunter Biden would only include tax, firearm, and drug-related conduct investigated by the government.
For the next 30 minutes, the parties fell into a pattern of negotiation, consulting in the middle of the courtroom with opposing counsel, retreating to their corners to discuss, and repeating.
At one point, a visibly frazzled Clark approached prosecutors with arms stretched wide, threatening to “rip it up” and looking to U.S. Attorney David Weiss, another Trump appointee. “Does anyone want to talk about this?” Clark said.
What this partially boils down to is a big loss for the Biden family and for President Biden in general since the plea deal would’ve put to rest some of Hunter Biden’s tax evasion charges entirely. Some of this dovetails in with the corruption investigation into Joe Biden helping his family rake in millions of dollars from entities working for foreign governments over the past decade or more.
Part of the plea implosion was related to a felony gun charge that the defense was trying to bury within the tax evasion deal. The gun charge itself stems from Hunter Biden lying when filling out a background check form which asks whether the individual purchasing the firearm is a drug user. At the time, Hunter Biden was still actively using and addicted to various illegal drugs.
The other result from Wednesday’s courtroom drama is that the Justice Department and the House Oversight Committee are continuing investigations into Hunter Biden and the Biden family at large:
Even if the charges against Biden are settled in the next month, the Justice Department has indicated its investigation of him is ongoing.
And House Republicans plan to hold investigations into the investigation, as they continue digging into the Biden family’s foreign business dealings.
There is little doubt that Hunter Biden’s plea deal, as written, was created in a way to put to bed as many legal issues surrounding the Biden family as possible. Lumping a felony gun charge in with tax evasion charges is sketchy, to begin with, but further parts of the deal for “blanket immunity” to shut down any investigations into Hunter Biden’s finances also appear more as a cover-up than a proper application of justice.
Bravo to U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika for scrutinizing the deal rather than rubber-stamping it as the White House would’ve preferred.
As more and more testimony and details emerge surrounding the Biden family’s corrupt foreign business dealings, the possibility of sweeping Hunter Biden’s crimes under the rug, no questions asked, seems less likely.
