He plea agreement of Hunter Biden took an unexpected turn this Wednesday when a federal court judge in Wilmington, Delaware, rejected the plea agreement between the son of United States's president and the prosecution.
What was expected to be a routine hearing turned into a three-hour legal storm that derailed the agreement and Hunter Biden ended up pleading not guilty to charges of tax evasion while another agreement was reached between both parties.
The collapse of the procedures on the agreement is a surprising fact after a prolonged negotiation that took time and careful technical adjustments.
The United States Secret Service guarded the transfer of Hunter Biden and the court building because he was a member of the presidential family.
After incisively questioning both parties for details about the agreement, the District Court judge Maryellen Noreika He suspended the hearing and suggested that the defendant and the prosecution redefine and clarify the agreement through which Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to two tax crimes to avoid greater punishment for illegal possession of a firearm.
“These agreements are not simple and contain some provisions that are outside the norm,” Noreika said at the end of the hearing, according to reports of the court session.
Hunter Biden was charged last month with separate crimes for failing to pay more than $100,000 in taxes on income of more than $1.5 million between 2017 and 2018, and the agreement involved him serving two years of probation without going to jail. In exchange, a charge for the weapon used at a time when he was regularly using drugs would be dismissed.
The judge rejected the agreement, also considering that prosecutors said that Hunter Biden remains under investigation, without revealing details of the scope of the investigation.
The agreement between Biden's lawyers and prosecutors for the District of Delaware came after five years of investigations by Attorney General David Weiss. It consisted of two parts: the plea agreement to resolve the tax charges and the agreement to dismiss the weapons charge.
However the Justice Department He pledged not to press charges against Biden on the gun possession issue if he adhered to the plea deal. Otherwise, the felony weapons charge carries 10 years in prison.
But from the beginning it was a strange and tense hearing, and Judge Noreika raised questions that hindered the consummation of the agreement.
"It seems to me that they are telling me 'just seal the agreement, your Honor'... It seems to me that the form is more important than the substance," said Noreika, who called on lawyers and defenders to explain why she should accept the deal.
Noreika asked prosecutors and defense attorneys to untangle the technical issues and expressed concern that the agreement included a non-prosecution clause for crimes outside of the weapons charge.
The hearing passed with separate exchanges between the lawyers to discuss the issues before returning to the table with prosecutors, and at times the tone of voices became too loud between both sides.
The deal is not dead, but federal prosecutors and Biden's lawyers will now have to meet Noreika's demands.
If the judge finally approves the agreement, Hunter Biden will be able to withdraw the not guilty pleas he presented this Wednesday and replace them with guilty pleas on the tax charges, while prosecutors would postpone prosecution on the weapons charge.
Hunter Biden's plea deal had irritated Republicans who protest a double standard of justice regarding the former president Donald Trump, under surveillance by criminal causes that could lead to prison.
Republicans have unleashed investigations and hearings in the House of Representatives about the treatment received by Hunter Biden, the payments received abroad, and the magnitude of the investigations carried out by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into his tax contributions.
Several press reports and political analysts consider that the testimony of two IRS officials before a congressional hearing last week reached Judge Noreika and raised alarms about an agreement, which was established before the statements heard under oath in the Congress.
Even the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said this Tuesday that an impeachment trial is being considered against President Joe Biden for alleged irregularities and false statements about his family businesses.
In the Hunter Biden case, both Judge Noreika and U.S. Attorney David Weiss were appointed during the Donald Trump administration.
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