Hunter Biden's plea deal falls apart, pleads not guilty

[Ralph Wiggum]

Hunter Biden pleads 'not guilty' as plea deal falls apart during Delaware court appearance

Hunter Biden's plea deal fell apart during his first court appearance Wednesday morning and pleaded "not guilty" as federal prosecutors confirmed the president's son is still under federal investigation.

The president's son was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, as part of plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge.

But Judge Maryellen Noreika did not accept the plea agreement, questioning the constitutionality--specifically the diversion clause and the immunity Hunter Biden would receive.

The judge pressed federal prosecutors on the investigation and questioned whether there was the possibility for future charges, and asked prosecutors if Hunter Biden was currently under active investigation. Prosecutors said he was, but would not answer specifically what the president's son is under investigation for. 

Prosecutors on Wednesday said Hunter Biden pleading guilty to the two misdemeanor tax offenses would not immunize him from future charges.

The judge asked whether a potential violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act was under consideration, but prosecutors were tight-lipped on the matter.

The judge put the court in recess and asked that federal prosecutors and Biden's legal team discuss the plea deal, telling the court that they did not appear to be in agreement on the terms.

Hunter Biden was also expected to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate felony charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

His plea deal, which has faced ire from Republicans and opponents of the president, was likely to keep Hunter Biden out of jail.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-biden-plea-deal-appears-fall-apart-first-court-appearance



https://youtu.be/Z2-1wcJYrWA

[DefiantSix]

Given what Drafe Hoblin posted last night in the shout box, it seems as if this judge might be a mite purturbed at being played by the Bite-Me defense team.

Now the federal prosecutors are going to have to put in the effort to cherry pick a jury, phone in their prosecution, and generally come away with an L in their columns in order for the Pretender in Chief to get what he wants.

 

[Ralph Wiggum]

Given what Drafe Hoblin posted last night in the shout box, it seems as if this judge might be a mite purturbed at being played by the Bite-Me defense team.

Now the federal prosecutors are going to have to put in the effort to cherry pick a jury, phone in their prosecution, and generally come away with an L in their columns in order for the Pretender in Chief to get what he wants.

 

Rarely read the shout box, but thanks for that nugget. My bookmarked browser link goes to "Recent Unread Posts" by my choice and I more frequently glance at things on the Tapatalk app on my phone to catch up on what y'all have been posting. And there I can't see that.

Not really following this Biden Crime Family saga closely, but obviously consume various news throughout every day. I've always figured this was a fait accompli, that the Crack Head was getting the sweetheart deal.

Guessing that the leftist narrative will now "seize and pounce" on the fact the judge in this case is a "Trump appointee". Yet if it ever involves a Clinton or Obama appointee, that never makes the headlines.

[SVPete]

OK, STOOOOOOOOOOOOPID question ... does anyone not DU-grade Prog believe that the prosecution team that tried to push through this corrupt plea deal will actually prosecute Hunter, vigorously, and not take dives at every turn in the proceedings?

[Eupher]

OK, STOOOOOOOOOOOOPID question ... does anyone not DU-grade Prog believe that the prosecution team that tried to push through this corrupt plea deal will actually prosecute Hunter, vigorously, and not take dives at every turn in the proceedings?

Not a stupid question at all, but I'd posit that this ruling by the judge was a wakeup call to the prosecution to stop playing grabass and get with the program.

Of course, the judge isn't in a position to specify the charges against Crackhead Regal Son #1, but as was mentioned in an article somewhere today, one of the reasons the judge threw out the plea deal involved "additional information" coming to light in the form of the IRS whistleblower testimony, which came AFTER the plea deal was leaked.

[Drafe Hoblin]

The first red-flag that the Judge noticed was the extended statute of limitations agreement that Weiss (the prosecutors) negotiated with Biden's defense-team...  Then Weiss signed-off on the plea-deal without acknowledging that the extension even existed. 

Somebody was in a rush... which she could further interpret as a 'rush to get her canned' after a judicial review.

I like Judge Janine's take:  " It looks like the Judge cleared her throat to begin the proceedings and the deal immediately fell-apart. "

[Old n Grumpy]

With all his experience doing drugs he could be a crack dealer or he’s also experienced with hookers so he can be a dealer for the other type of crack 

[Ptarmigan]

‘On the Same Team’: DOJ Exposed for Colluding With Hunter Biden’s Legal Team
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2023/07/27/on-the-same-team-doj-exposed-for-colluding-with-hunter-bidens-legal-team-n2626267

It's been 24-hours since Hunter Biden entered a Delaware courtroom expecting to walk away without jail time and a codification of his sweetheart plea deal offered by the Department of Justice -- wiping away felony tax fraud and a felony gun charge with minor misdemeanors and a diversion program.

“As he entered the courtroom, Mr. Biden drew a deep breath and plunged forward to greet the prosecutors who investigated him for five years with handshakes and a smile,” the New York Times reported about the scene.

But after asking just a few simple questions,  U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreikam torpedoed the whole thing and exposed DOJ's collusion with the Hunter Biden legal team to evade more serious charges in the future. According to former federal prosecutor Will Scharf, this is what happened:

Based on conversations with people who were in the courtroom today, and my experience as a former federal prosecutor, I think I know the full story of what happened with the Hunter Biden plea agreement blow-up this morning.

Bear with me, because this is a little complicated:…

— Will Scharf (@willscharf) July 26, 2023

The DOJ colluding with the Hunter Biden's legal team. That smells like a rat.

[Eupher]

The thot just got plicker. Lots of interesting stuff here.

Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday about Hunter Biden’s derailed plea deal, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika raised an issue the White House “most fears.”

As Axios reported, the contentious hearing included two recesses, one of which came after the judge questioned “whether the diversionary agreement shielded Hunter Biden from future prosecution under other laws including the Foreign Agent Registration Act.” 

[Justice Department prosecutor Leo] Wise also told the court that there is an "ongoing investigation." Asked for more information by Noreika, Wise said he was "not in a position where I can say."

Biden's legal team was shocked when Wise told the court that prosecutors believed they still could charge Biden with FARA violations.

Clark said that was not his understanding, to which Wise replied: "then there's no deal." (Axios)

According to Turley, the possibility that Hunter Biden could face this charge is highly problematic. When asked why the proceedings got to the point they did, he explained further:

I think part of the problem is they really did want to cap out the case. The Department of Justice wanted to cap this investigation. But they didn't want to say that it was now over. From the very beginning, the Hunter Biden team said this is a close-out plea agreement. There would be nothing left to investigate. But the Department of Justice is telling Congress we're not going to give you these witnesses or these documents because there's an ongoing investigation. You can't do both things when a judge is asking you to specifically address whether this is a close-out or a continuing investigation...
 
This is a big problem. This was all supposed to be scripted. It was all supposed to be easy. And now it is off script and it is anything but easy. Because the judge just raised the one charge that the White House most fears which is the chance that Hunter was a foreign agent. And if he was a foreign agent, the question is foreign agent for who and for what purpose? The president was that purpose. If you're influence peddling, it's influence over the president. So if you go for FARA, it's going to bring all of this stuff in. Including some of these tax accounts for 2014 and 15 that the Department of Justice allowed to run, allowed the statute of limitations to expire.
 
All of that can get boot strapped into a FARA issue. The whole purpose of this deal is collapsing as we're watching it. And it's taken Washington by utter surprise. I was on the Hill talking with members and everyone was floored. (Transcript via RCP)

Turley: Hunter Biden’s Judge Raised the Question the W.H. Most Fears, Was He A Foreign Agent and For What Purpose? pic.twitter.com/RxZnpHuDWr

— Alexandra Datig | Front Page Index 🇺🇸 (@alexdatig) July 27, 2023
Turley said the question now is what happens next.

"It's like a wedding where both the bride and groom objected and everyone else is sitting there saying wait, how did we get here and where do we go from here?"

Kudos to this judge for not reading "the script" and following the cues she'd been given.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2023/07/27/turley-hunter-bidens-judge-raised-the-question-the-wh-most-fears-n2626278?recip=29140120

[ADsOutburst]

‘On the Same Team’: DOJ Exposed for Colluding With Hunter Biden’s Legal Team
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2023/07/27/on-the-same-team-doj-exposed-for-colluding-with-hunter-bidens-legal-team-n2626267

The DOJ colluding with the Hunter Biden's legal team. That smells like a rat.

If they’d do that just to keep Hunter Biden from paying any real price for his crimes, imagine what they’d do to their enemies.

[Old n Grumpy]

If they’d do that just to keep Hunter Biden from paying any real price for his crimes, imagine what they’d do to their enemies.

We have seen what they do to their enemies with the persecution of Trump and any of his allies.

[SVPete]

Try to imagine a Trump scion dodging $100K+ in taxes, lying to buy a fire arm, blowing 100s of thousands of $$ or meth and hookers, arm-twisting foreign business people into paying millions of $$ for access to Trump's WH, and representing a foreign business/government without filing proper papers.

Does anyone imagine this Trump scion would not be already serving 5-10 in prison and bankrupted with fines and penalties? Yeah, I don't either.

Now imagine an ordinary no-name like me having done all that ...

[Dblhaul]

Nelson Muntz voice - Ha Ha!

[SVPete]

If they’d do that just to keep Hunter Biden from paying any real price for his crimes, imagine what they’d do to their enemies.

One purpose was to shut down further investigations, which might expose that Joe not only was present for some of Hunter's "business negotiations" but was a silent (AFAWK) partner in Hunter's "business".

[ADsOutburst]

We have seen what they do to their enemies with the persecution of Trump and any of his allies.

True, but I think they're willing to go further still.