A legal showdown over the derailed plea deal for Hunter Biden continued Tuesday as prosecutors asserted that an agreement on a gun charge is dead along with the rest of the deal as the case makes a major shift into a special counsel investigation.
While the agreement that was supposed to have wrapped up the long-running investigation of President Joe Biden’s son largely unraveled during a contentious court hearing last month, prosecutors said the two sides had continued to negotiate until the defense rejected their final counterproposal the day before U.S. Attorney David Weiss asked to be named special counsel.
Lawyers for Hunter Biden have claimed prosecutors reneged on an agreement on tax charges but said a separate agreement sparing him prosecution on a gun charge remains valid. The agreement on the gun charge also contains an immunity clause against federal prosecutions for other crimes.
Prosecutors denied reneging on any deal. While the agreement on the gun charge was signed by a prosecutor, probation agents didn’t sign it and so it never became valid, they argued.
The conflict is now in front of U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is weighing the prosecution’s motion to pull the tax misdemeanor charges it filed and potentially file them in another district, such as California or Washington.
Biden’s defense attorney on the case, Christopher Clark, also filed to withdraw from the case Tuesday, saying he could be called as a witness over the negotiation and drafting of the deal and cannot also act as his lawyer.
He’s been replaced by another Hunter Biden attorney, Abbe Lowell.
The plea agreement had been decried as a “sweetheart deal” by Republicans who are pursuing congressional investigations into Biden’s business dealings and the Justice Department’s handling of the case.
GOP lawmakers say bank records and witness testimony have indicated the president and his son were involved in a multimillion-dollar influence-peddling scheme.
Biden family members and their associates received OVER $20 million in payments from foreign entities during Joe Biden’s time as Vice President.
Click HERE ⬇️ for a full timeline of the Bidens’ Influence Peddling from @GOPoversight.
https://t.co/KbPAxtileN— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) August 11, 2023
The Hunter Biden agreement had originally called for him to plead guilty to failing to pay taxes on over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018 and get probation rather than jail on the misdemeanor counts.
A separate agreement was to spare him prosecution on the felony crime of being a drug user in possession of a gun in 2018 if he kept out of trouble for two years.
Attorney General Merrick Garland’s announcement last week of Weiss as special counsel raised fresh questions about the case ahead of the 2024 election.
House Oversight Chair James Comer comes out swinging after AG Garland appoints a special counsel in the Hunter Biden investigation. https://t.co/eeBHar9DQI pic.twitter.com/V9Sk38bT2J
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 12, 2023
The case comes against the backdrop of the Justice Department’s indictments against former President Donald Trump — the leading GOP contender to take on Joe Biden in next year’s election.
Trump has been indicted and is awaiting trial in two separate cases brought by special prosecutor Jack Smith.
Will Hunter Biden be convicted?
Yes: 61% (19 Votes)
No: 39% (12 Votes)
One is over his alleged mishandling of classified documents. The other involves his actions protesting the results of the 2020 election.
Trump also is facing charges in New York claiming he falsified documents and in Georgia alleging he was part of a criminal conspiracy related to the 2020 vote.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
