Chaos in the Courthouse: Hunter Biden Plea Deal Falls Apart
As we went live this morning, Hunter’s “sweetheart” plea deal appeared to be falling apart as his court appearance began. The judge had accused his legal team of “misrepresentations” to the court.
The hearing was chaotic with both the DOJ and Hunter’s lawyers seemingly unable to answer the judge’s questions, even threatening to scuttle the deal entirely themselves. It has since been reported that the judge refused to accept the plea deal citing constitutional concerns about how the deal was structured. Hunter has now entered a plea of not guilty, all but ensuring that the high profile case against the President’s son will go to trial in what will continue to be a highly politically charged case.
As reported by Fox News:
Hunter Biden's plea deal appeared to fall apart during his first court appearance Wednesday morning, amid questions about federal prosecutors' plans for the ongoing 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 pressed federal prosecutors on the investigation and questioned whether there was the possibility for future charges.
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.
But what’s truly astonishing is that Hunter Biden’s legal team found itself in hot water after a member of his legal team allegedly misrepresented herself as a Republican attorney to have an important filing from actual GOP lawmakers which urged the court to consider the allegations made by the IRS whistleblowers of political interference in the investigation removed from the docket. The judge accused Biden’s legal team of tricking the court and threatened sanctions.
As reported:
Court filings indicate that Jessica Bengels, an administrative staff member at Latham & Watkins, a firm representing Biden, called a member of the court clerk’s office just before noon Tuesday seeking the documents’ removal from the public docket, saying they contained secret details including social security, taxpayer and grand jury information.
But U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is overseeing Biden’s case, later suggested Bengels had pretended to call from the committee chairman’s law firm. Noreika ordered Biden’s attorneys to submit in writing why they shouldn’t be sanctioned.
“It appears that the caller misrepresented her identity and who she worked for in an attempt to improperly convince the Clerk’s Office to remove the amicus materials from the docket,” Noreika, a Trump appointee, wrote in the order.
This member of Biden’s legal team appears to have tried to trick the court to throw out a legal document. These people have zero respect for the law or the Constitution. Of course, Biden's legal team quickly responded that this was just an “unfortunate and unintentional miscommunication,” and that there had been no nefarious intent to deceive.
It’s clear that the DOJ and Hunter’s legal team did not have an understanding as to the nature and scope of the immunity to be granted through the plea deal. As someone who has advised clients, having worked for both the government and in private practice, that is unheard of. Today’s chaotic hearing leaves more questions than answers – answers the American people need and deserve.
Today’s full Sekulow broadcast includes more analysis of this breaking update in the Hunter Biden case as it unraveled. We will continue to monitor the case to see where it leads, now that Biden has pleaded not guilty, this case looks to be heading to trial. We’re also joined by ACLJ Senior Counsel for Global Affairs, and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss the news we reported earlier this week that the FBI illegally spied on a sitting U.S. Senator.
Watch the full broadcast below: