NO DEAL!
The plea agreement involving Hunter Biden has collapsed.
🚨BREAKING: Hunter Biden's plea deal just fell apart in court due to investigations that are still on going into potential FARA violations. pic.twitter.com/wn6qoXGMSD
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 26, 2023
President Joe Biden’s son had previously been expected to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors however, the prosecutors and defense have both confirmed that there is no longer a deal in place.
According to CNN reporter Kara Scannell: “Hunter’s attorneys said the plea agreement as they understand it is now null and void.” “The deal appears to be dead and off the table…one thing we’ve learned is that this investigation very much is still ongoing.”
CNN reported:
More from MSNBC:
#BREAKING: The Hunter Biden plea deal is DEAD after the judge expressed MAJOR concerns about the pretrial diversion program for Hunter's felony gun charge that would wipe out additional tax charges. pic.twitter.com/jJ63SwUHCm
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 26, 2023
During the trial this morning, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika pressed lawyers as to the details of the agreement reached between Hunter Biden and U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware concerning his tax violations and separate felony gun charge.
Weiss’s office stated that Biden had received taxable income in excess of $1,500,000 annually in 2017 and 2018 but did not pay the federal income taxes due for either year.
The original agreement included prosecutors recommending probation for these violations while dropping the separate gun charge if he were to meet certain conditions set out in court.
Hunter was charged with possession of a firearm by a person who is a known drug user, a felony. He agreed to enter into a diversion agreement, which means that he would not technically plead guilty to the crime. As long as he adhered to the terms of his agreement, the case would be wiped from his record. If not, the deal would be withdrawn and he would face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
However, confusion arose during the proceedings in the courtroom.
U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika stated she was concerned about the language in the diversion agreement, which contained details about not prosecuting Biden for tax crimes in the future. She suggested the lawyers get back together and discuss it.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the lawyers could resolve the case Wednesday, or they would have to go back into more discussions.
On Tuesday, a dust-up arose after Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee filed court documents urging Noreika to consider testimony from IRS whistleblowers who alleged Justice Department interference in the investigation.
Shortly after their motion was filed, a court clerk received a call requesting that “sensitive grand jury, taxpayer and Social Security information” be kept under seal, according to an oral order from the judge. The clerk said the lawyer gave her name and said she worked with an attorney from the Ways and Means Committee but was in fact a lawyer with the defense team.
Noreika demanded the defense team show why she should not consider sanctioning them for “misrepresentations to the court.”
Defense attorneys responded that their lawyer had represented herself truthfully from the start and called the matter a misunderstanding.
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