Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to tax evasion and illegal gun possession charges on Wednesday in federal court after the judge overseeing the case did not accept the plea agreement President Joe Biden’s son and federal prosecutors reached in June.
U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika called into question the blanket immunity from future prosecution the agreement would involve.
“From the start, the judge seemed highly skeptical of the unusual deal — which offered Hunter Biden broad immunity from prosecution in perpetuity, questioning why it had been filed under a provision that gave her no legal authority to reject it,” The New York Times’ Glenn Thrush reported.
“When she asked Leo Wise, a prosecutor, if there was any precedent for the kind of deal being proposed, he replied, ‘No, your honor.’”
Thrush explained, “Noreika … [demanded] that the two sides make changes in the deal clarifying her role and insert language that limits the broad immunity from prosecution offered to Biden on his business dealings. Biden’s lawyers estimated it would take about two weeks.”
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CNN’s Kara Scannell reported from in front of the Wilmington, Delaware, courthouse, “The judge said that she could not accept the plea agreement as it was structured.”
🚨BREAKING🚨
HUNTER BIDEN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO ALL CHARGES AFTER PLEA DEAL IS JEOPARDIZED pic.twitter.com/HHpLbp9zWK
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 26, 2023
Concerning the gun diversion plea agreement, the judge questioned the constitutionality of her being included in the process of deciding whether Biden should be charged later if he violated the terms reached.
Last month, U.S. Attorney David Weiss recommended probation for Biden for failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes in 2017 and 2018.
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The maximum punishment for the misdemeanor tax evasion charges is a $25,000 fine and one year in prison.
The pretrial diversion agreement would have been to resolve a charge of possession of a gun by a drug user or drug addict.
Under the deal, the president’s son would have agreed to be drug-free for two years and to never own a gun again.
Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins reported that the case could now be heading to trial.
🚨 BREAKING: Judge DENIES Hunter Biden plea deal, pleads ‘not guilty’ pic.twitter.com/ET54tXbw9M
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 26, 2023
The Times noted that Noreika was nominated by former President Donald Trump in 2017 with the support of Delaware’s two Democratic senators, Chris Coons and Tom Carper.
