Hunter Biden pleads not guilty in court, judge defers new plea deal
- Hunter Biden's original plea deal fell apart in court
- Prosecution, Biden's team threw together a more "limited" deal last minute
- Judge deferred second deal; denying until she reviews it
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WILMINGTON, Del. (NewsNation) — Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the charges against him when a Delaware judge deferred the new, “more limited” plea deal created after the original deal fell apart in court earlier on Wednesday.
The judge said she needs 14 days to review the new deal before making a decision, saying it is potentially not constitutional and she would not just “rubber stamp the agreement.”
The new deal that was agreed upon between Biden’s legal team and the case prosecutors would have covered 2014 to 2019 and included conduct related to tax offenses, Biden’s drug use and gun possession.
Biden agreed to plead guilty to the tax misdemeanors for 2017 and 2018. His legal team and the prosecution also came to an agreement that the new deal does not provide Biden immunity to possible future charges.
The new deal was struck after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump-appointed judge, had ordered a recess due to a disagreement that broke out in court in response to Noreika clarifying the details within the deal.
During the hearing, Noreika zeroed in on the structure of the deal, asking whether the deal covered other potential charges. Prosecutors said no, and that other charges were possible due to investigations that are still ongoing into potential Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) violations.
However, Biden and his team wanted immunity from any future charges. Biden then backed out of the deal, saying the deal includes exemption from future charges or there was no deal.
Under the original deal, Hunter Biden would have agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay taxes. He would also have been required to commit to court-imposed conditions that would have spared him full prosecution on a felony gun charge.
Prosecutors asked the judge for 10 minutes to try and revive the deal.
The deal then fell apart within minutes.
“This is the most high-profile collapse I have ever seen,” House Ways and Means Committee’s top lawyer Theodore Kittila said.
Kittila took the unusual step of filing court documents Tuesday night, urging Noreika to consider testimony from IRS whistleblowers. The whistleblowers alleged the Justice Department interfered with investigations into Biden, a charge that has been denied by U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the lead prosecutor in the case.
Weiss, who was appointed by Trump, filed the charges against Biden and kept on during the Biden administration to continue the investigation, which in some aspects continues.
Prior to Wednesday’s hearing, Biden’s lawyer had said the guilty pleas were an effort to take responsibility for mistakes that he made “during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life,” and his understanding was originally that it would wrap up the five-year investigation of his client.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre referred questions on the hearing to the Department of Justice and Biden’s representatives.
“Hunter Biden is a private citizen, and this is a personal matter for him. As we have said, the President and the First Lady, they love their son and they support him as he continues to rebuild his life,” she said.