Hunter Biden has unexpectedly pleaded not guilty to tax and gun crimes after his ‘sweetheart’ plea deal collapsed in a sensational court hearing.
The scandal-hit first son is also still on the hook for any crimes linked to foreign deals with China and Ukraine after the judge dramatically rejected the first agreementthat would have shielded him from future charges and seen him avoid jail.
Hunter had arrived at federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, expecting to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and walk away with a slap on the wrist.
But in a stunning turn of events, the first agreement unraveled and the latest plea deal over his failure to pay taxes and lying about his crack cocaine addiction when he bought a gun was put on hold.
Hunter initially said ‘yes, your honor’ when asked by the judge if he would plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and admitted he’s been to rehab six times in 20 years for addiction to alcohol and drugs.
The hearing then turned when the Department of Justice lawyers warned Hunter he could still be charged for potential violations for failing to register as a foreign agent over his shady deals – which Republicans say involve his father Joe.
At that news – delivered by top prosecutor Leo Wise – Hunter’s attorney Chris Clark snapped that the deal was ‘null and void’.
There were signs of trouble from the get-go, when U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika allowed she had ‘concerns about the diversion agreement.’
She asked Wise if he had ever seen a diversion agreement ‘so broad that it encompasses crimes in a different case.’
‘What happens if I reject this plea?’ she asked. ‘I don’t mean to violate the separation of powers or do anything (un)constitutional.’
When she pressed the parties on areas of confusion, Clark said he didn’t agree with the government’s characterization.
‘Then there’s no deal,’ Wise said in court.
‘As far as I’m concerned the agreement’s null and void,’ Clark weighed in.
That set off another round of talks after the judge agreed to give them more time, with the government and Team Hunter getting behind it once again.
The case unraveled after a dramatic 24 hours in which Hunter’s attorneys were threatened with sanctions over an alleged prank call to remove bombshell testimony from an IRS whistleblower from the docket.
His lawyers claimed it was a simple mistake.
But the matter put the judge in a fighting mood, and she demanded Hunter’s team provide an explanation by 9pm Tuesday night. The incident did not come up in open court Monday.
