WILMINGTON, Delaware — President Joe Biden's son Hunter pleaded "not guilty" in court Wednesday after a federal judge in Delaware said she was not ready to accept a so-called sweetheart plea deal after the prosecution revealed the investigation was ongoing.
Hunter Biden, 53, through his attorneys, had argued the prearranged plea deal should be accepted in its entirety. It included the younger Biden pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and entering a diversion agreement for a felony gun charge, though the younger Biden wound up pleading not guilty to the tax charges in a surprise turn of events.
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After a more than three-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika delayed ruling on the agreement until she obtains additional briefings from the government and the defendant's counsel. Parties will convene at a future date, likely within the next four to six weeks.
Noreika acknowledged during the hearing that the concerns she raised over the terms of the deal were a "curveball" after she had been expected to accept the arrangement.
"I am concerned you are taking provisions out of the plea agreement," Noreika said. She asked lawyers in the room about the terms of the gun charge, raising concerns that the judiciary would not normally oversee such an agreement. She also said she was worried that the agreement on the tax charges wouldn't give her the ability to reject or modify the deal.
"You all are telling me to 'please rubber-stamp this agreement, your honor.' I am not in a position where I can decide on the plea agreement," the judge continued.
When she questioned if the investigation into Hunter Biden was still ongoing, the prosecution said "yes," clarifying recent questions about whether the plea deal would mark the conclusion of the yearslong inquiry into the younger Biden's business dealings.
A federal prosecutor under U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, who led the investigation and brokered the plea agreement, then remarked they weren't at liberty to divulge additional details about the investigation.
"Then why are we doing this piecemeal?" Noreika asked.
"I understand why you want to get this resolved but I'm not in a position to do so now," Noreika later added.
Prosecutors and the defense huddled in separate corners of a courtroom in Delaware after it became clear the initial plan may not be approved. The judge left the room, leaving the attorneys to deliberate their next plan in real time.
At the prospect of Hunter Biden seeing future prosecution, his attorney, Chris Clark, concluded, "As far as I'm concerned, the plea agreement is null and void."
Under earlier questioning from the judge, Hunter Biden talked about his past drug and alcohol abuse over the course of "20 years" and that he had been sober since 2019. The court then went into recess as the judge asked for more details on the plea deal arrangement.
Lawyers emerged with plans for a revised and limited plea deal, but the judge rejected that idea and asked for future briefings from the attorneys.
Biden entered a plea of "not guilty" on the two tax charges.
Without the arrangement, Joe Biden's son could face up to 12 months in prison and a fine of $25,000 on each tax violation count, and a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail for the felony.
The charges stem from the first son's willful tax neglect in 2017 and 2018, when he failed to pay income taxes and owed more than $100,000 for each tax period. The felony charge stems from a 2018 incident when the president's son lied on a gun application (ATF Form 4473) while attempting to make a purchase at a Delaware gun store.
Under an agreement with Weiss's office announced in late June, the first son would have entered a pretrial diversion agreement for the gun charge, an alternative to prosecution that allows a defendant to avoid prison time.
Noreika, an appointee of former President Donald Trump who had bipartisan support for her appointment, was widely expected by legal experts to approve the plea deal.
The high-profile nature of the case prompted legal experts to speculate that she would likely ask numerous questions about the agreement during the hearing, to ensure the public knows she thoroughly looked into its terms. Noreika was highly inquisitive about the arrangement set up by prosecutors and Biden's defense and ultimately raised constitutional issues about the gun agreement.
If Noreika had signed off on the deal it would have capped a nearly five-year investigation into the younger Biden's taxes and foreign business dealings that have been under the spotlight throughout the duration of his father's presidency. It also marks the first time the Justice Department has brought charges against a sitting president's child.
Republican lawmakers had slammed the plea agreement as a “sweetheart deal,” raising questions as to whether Biden was treated equally under the law compared to other defendants.
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Two IRS criminal investigators bolstered Republicans' assertions in May when they testified to the House Ways and Means Committee that Weiss was blocked from bringing harsher charges against Hunter Biden in two jurisdictions and was also denied special counsel status.
Ways and Means chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) submitted an amicus brief one day ahead of the hearing asking the judge to consider the whistleblower testimony in deciding whether to approve the agreement. His attorney accused a member of Hunter Biden's legal team of calling the clerk to have the testimony removed from the docket, prompting the judge to seal the docket and threaten attorney sanctions.