In yet another wild turn of events, today’s court session ended with Hunter Biden’s plea deal placed on hold, and Hunter pleading not guilty for the time being.
US District Judge Maryellen Noreika said she was not ready to accept the plea deal, and has asked both sides to file additional briefs explaining the legal structure of the revised deal.
The hearing was temporarily derailed when judge Noreika said she didn’t understand what Hunter Biden could still be charged with. She asked questions that exposed a difference of understanding between Justice Department prosecutors and Biden’s lawyer, Chris Clark.
“I don’t really understand the scope” of the agreement, Noreika said. She noted that Biden has had numerous foreign business dealings. At one point, she raised a hypothetical as to whether Biden could be charged as acting as an unregistered foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. –Bloomberg
She also called the deal federal prosecutors reached with Hunter over his gun possession offense “unusual,” and that it contains some “non-standard terms,” such as “broad immunity” from other potential charges.
“We don’t usually make diversion agreements public,” she said.