Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal on gun, tax charges torpedoed by judge in sensational court room dust up
First son Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to federal tax and gun charges Wednesday, a dramatic about-face after his wrist-slap, probation-only plea deal fell apart — with the judge in the case accusing both sides of wanting her to “rubber-stamp” an improperly broad agreement.
The stunning turn of events came more than 90 minutes into the hearing at the federal courthouse in Wilmington, Del., where Hunter was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay taxes and enter a diversion program on a felony federal weapons charge.
But US District Judge Maryellen Noreika ran the rule over both prosecutors and the lawyers for President Biden’s 53-year-old son — asking assistant US attorney Leo Wise if Hunter was still under scrutiny for potential offenses including failing to register as a foreign agent for lucrative dealings in countries such as China and Ukraine that allegedly involved his father.
“Yes,” admitted Wise, echoing statements by his boss, Delaware US Attorney David Weiss, whose office confirmed the ongoing nature of the probe to The Post Wednesday. Wise added if Hunter’s team thought otherwise, “then there’s no deal.”
Hunter’s main attorney, Chris Clark, has insisted that he believed the first son’s criminal liability to be resolved entirely by the tentative pact and responded to Wise by dramatically announcing: “As far as I’m concerned, the plea agreement is null and void.”
After a 20-minute recess that doubled as a bargaining period, both sides tried to move forward with a revised plea deal that specified Hunter would face no additional charges linked to tax crimes committed between 2014 and 2019 — or any counts involving his drug use and associated weapons violations.
Judge Noreika was still suspicious, asking both sides if they intended for her to sign off on a deal that bound her to impose no prison time on the first son.
“We’re not asking the court to rubber-stamp anything,” Wise said at one point, to which the judge answered: “Well, it certainly seems that way.”
Finally, after three hours of high drama, Noreika told Wise and Clark that the revised agreement was still “not straightforward” and included “atypical provisions.”
Asked if there was any precedent for the kind of deal being proposed, Wise admitted: “No, your honor.”
“I think having you guys talk more makes sense,” the judge said, before asking Hunter: “Without me saying I’ll agree to the plea agreement, how do you plead?”
“Not guilty, your honor,” the president’s son answered, a pro forma statement ahead of his next hearing, set for Aug. 25.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has since Monday teased the opening of an impeachment inquiry into President Biden for his alleged role in Hunter’s dealings, and confirmation of an ongoing investigation beyond tax violations could spur on House investigators.
Hunter Biden introduced his dad to many of his foreign associates and in some instances served as a liaison to US officials. Legal experts assess that he likely violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act through conduct documented on his abandoned laptop and other records.
One of Hunter’s closest business partners, Devon Archer, is expected to testify to Congress next week that the then-second son often put his then-vice president father on speakerphone while meeting with overseas partners.
FARA violations can carry stiff penalties, and a five-year statute of limitations means that charges likely would have to come soon for Hunter — who left the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma in 2019 and whose most lucrative Chinese government-linked partnership spanned 2017 and 2018.
Violations of the law can send perpetrators to prison. Former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced in 2018 to 60 months behind bars specifically for FARA violations related to his work in Ukraine, plus another 30 months for tax and bank fraud and witness tampering.
There is evidence that Joe Biden met in person with Hunter’s associates from China, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine — in addition to meeting with his US partners — and Hunter complained in records on his abandoned laptop that he had to give “half” of his income to his dad.
One allegation apparently under investigation is an FBI informant’s June 2020 tip that a Ukrainian oligarch — Burisma’s owner Mykola Zlochevsky — said he was “coerced” to pay $10 million in bribes to Hunter and then-Vice President Joe Biden to influence US government policy. Hunter joined the company’s board in 2014, soon after his father took over the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy.
Congressional Republicans are demanding to know what Weiss’ office and the FBI did to vet the bribery allegation.
Hunter — who has earned at least $1.3 million by selling his novice artworks since his father became president, including to a presidential commission appointee — repeatedly involved his dad in foreign business relationships.
Follow The Post’s latest coverage on the Hunter Biden probe
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Hunter rode aboard Air Force Two with his dad on an official trip to Beijing in 2013 as he set up a state-backed investment fund called BHR Partners. Hunter introduced Joe Biden to incoming CEO Jonathan Li and Joe Biden later wrote college recommendation letters for Li’s children.
As part of a later Chinese business venture with government-linked CEFC China Energy, Hunter’s associates in May 2017 penciled in a 10% cut for Joe Biden. The president allegedly met with Hunter’s business partners in that deal, including Tony Bobulinski, and he was listed as a participant in an October 2017 call about CEFC’s attempt to purchase US natural gas.
Hunter also flew with his dad aboard the taxpayer-funded jet to Mexico in 2016 with business associate Jeff Cooper as the pair courted that nation’s business elite, whom Hunter’s father had hosted the preceding year at the official vice president’s residence in Washington.
The House Oversight Committee in May identified nine Biden relatives who allegedly received foreign income from shady figures in China and Romania — and has argued they were selling access to their powerful relative.
Hunter Biden had appeared confident ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, showing up alongside his “sugar brother,” attorney Kevin Morris.
Morris, a Hollywood-based lawyer and Democratic donor, was spotted last week taking a hit from a bong outside his Los Angeles home while Hunter, a recovering drug addict, paid a visit.
Hunter Biden agreed last month to plead guilty to failing to pay at least $100,000 on more than $1.5 million in earned income in both 2017 and 2018.
He also agreed to admit to lying about his crack cocaine use on a federal firearm purchase form in 2018.
At the hearing, Hunter assured the judge he hadn’t used drugs since May 2019, though he gave his formal “sober date” as June 1 of that year.
The younger Biden faced a maximum sentence of two years’ probation for the tax crimes and 10 years in a federal prison for lying on the gun purchase form.
Under the diversion agreement for the gun charge, Hunter would have to remain sober, submit to drug testing, avoid committing other crimes for two years and agree not to own a firearm again.
Under an unusual diversion agreement for the gun charge, Hunter would have had to remain sober, submit to drug testing, avoid committing other crimes for two years and agree not to own a firearm again.
Morris, who accompanied Hunter to court, has been a central — and mysterious — figure in Hunter’s orbit since they met at a December 2019 Biden fundraiser.
He reportedly loaned Hunter about $2 million last year to pay off back taxes in a bid to reduce the likelihood or severity of charges for allegedly evading about $2.2 million in tax payments on $8.3 million in foreign income from 2014 to 2019.
As Hunter cried poverty to reduce child support payments to his 4-year-old daughter Navy Joan Roberts, he used Morris’ private jet in May to travel to a court appearance in Arkansas.
Morris is also among the buyers of Hunter’s novice artworks, according to a Monday report by Business Insider.
And a purportedly leaked business record says the attorney assumed control of Hunter’s 10% stake in Chinese state-backed investment fund BHR Partners, which drew negative headlines and questions about conflicts of interest for Hunter and his dad.
IRS supervisory agent Gary Shapley, who led the tax fraud investigation of Hunter for more than three years, suggested in a recent Fox News interview that he was skeptical about the relationship between the men.
“Well, to say [Hunter Biden] paid [back taxes] is a misnomer, right? Because it was an individual, Morris, that he met at a campaign finance event and then he immediately starts giving Hunter Biden money to pay off tax debts, to pay living expenses,” Shapley said.
“The money that was given to Hunter Biden by Morris showed up on his tax returns as a loan to him. So, when you have a person that you meet at a campaign finance event, then he’s, all of a sudden, giving you millions of dollars and … it’s a loan to you, I wouldn’t necessarily say that the subject paid those taxes.”
Hunter Biden’s plea deal has been derided by Shapley, primary IRS case agent Joseph Ziegler, and Republicans in Congress as a “sweetheart” deal.
President Biden’s Justice Department appointees allegedly blocked more serious charges while prosecutors allegedly impeded standard investigative steps and barred agents from asking about the president’s role in foreign dealings in countries such as China and Ukraine, despite communications that implicate him.
The president did not have any public events Wednesday and his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, sought to distance him from the courtroom drama.
“Hunter Biden is a private citizen and this was a personal matter for him,” Jean-Pierre said. “As we have said, the president, the first lady, they love their son, and they support him as he continues to rebuild his life.”
Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton in Wilmington, Del.
