Posted on 07/26/2023 5:04:59 PM PDT by grundle
WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge on Wednesday delayed accepting a guilty plea from President Biden’s son Hunter, saying the terms of the deal may not be constitutional but could be salvaged in the coming weeks if prosecutors and defense lawyers can show her it is on solid legal footing.
The deal that had been struck in June began to unravel near the start of the three-hour hearing, which the White House and allies of the Biden family had hoped would help close a painful chapter in Hunter Biden’s life that has cast a pall over the First Family.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika asked questions that revealed the extent of a long-standing dispute between federal prosecutors and Biden’s lawyers over whether the agreement — in which he would plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and probably avoid jail time — would protect him from the possibility of additional criminal charges. She later questioned the structure of the deal itself, saying lawyers had crafted a two-step plea deal in which some key features may not be reviewable or enforceable by the court.
The complications marked another twist in a case that has been dogged by questions about possible political bias, prosecutorial delay, and debate over whether Hunter Biden was being treated too harshly or too gently because of who his father is. The judge’s skepticism also thrust Biden back into the spotlight, renewing questions over what investigations may be ongoing and how that might affect his father ahead of a presidential reelection campaign, and reanimated congressional Republicans, who have spent months focusing on the Biden family in what have often been fruitless pursuits.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
How indefensible is the “pinky swear you’re vewy vewy sorry and you’ll never do it again” plea bargain?
A hazmat trip to DU yielded not a single thread on the subject defending Hunter or attacking the judge.
The judge may end up ‘drowning’ while on a paddle board or ‘drowning’ while hiking in the mountains.
It took FOUR ADULTS to write this!!!! 4 !!! PSTUPID!
At a hearing in Delaware today, a federal judge questioned a plea deal that would have allowed Hunter Biden to avoid a prison sentence for failing to pay his income taxes and illegally buying a gun. Under that agreement, Biden would have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax offenses. The deal also called for pretrial diversion with respect to a felony gun charge: receipt or possession of a firearm by an “unlawful user” of a controlled substance.
U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika objected to language in the agreement that seemed to preclude future prosecution for tax or lobbying crimes. The Associated Press reports that she also “expressed concern” about the decision to drop the gun charge once Biden completes a two-year diversion program that would require him to avoid drugs and firearms. As written, the plea agreement would have charged Noreika rather than the Justice Department with determining whether Biden had met the program’s requirements. She suggested that arrangement was constitutionally questionable because it assigned a prosecutorial function to a judge.
Pretrial diversion in these gun/drug cases can ONLY be authorized by the US AG or the Assistant US AG.
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