When Hunter Biden stepped into the courtroom Wednesday, he probably thought he had a pretty sweet deal in hand. Not only did he think he would only have to accept minor misdemeanor charges for tax and gun charges that would be felony charges for normal people, but he also thought he would be getting immunity from any future prosecution for his past actions, including allegations of influence peddling, corruption, and not registering as a foreign agent.
But then the Trump-appointed judge blew that up, rejecting the plea deal proposed by the Biden Department of Justice and Hunter Biden’s lawyers, even raising questions of its constitutionality. Commenting on the issue, Judge Noreika said, “Mr. Biden, I know you want to get this over with, and I’m sorry. But I need to get more information to do justice as I’m required to do.” Her main issue was with the DOJ’s diversion agreement over the gun charge.
So now Hunter is back at square one, facing felony charges for the gun and tax issues and having to worry about future charges over his apparent violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and his potentially accepting bribes from Chinese and Ukrainian companies, among others, while peddling his father’s influence.
Because of Hunter’s revived legal troubles, Republicans are gloating and rubbing salt in the wound of the failed prosecution agreement and arguing that Hunter’s issues, legal and otherwise, are about to get a whole lot worse.
Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, for example, said, “But let’s be clear: Hunter’s sweetheart plea deal belongs in the trash. Last week, we heard from two credible IRS whistleblowers about the Department of Justice’s politicization and misconduct in the Biden criminal investigation. Today, the Department of Justice revealed Hunter Biden is under investigation for being a foreign agent.”