The plea deal struck between federal prosecutors and Hunter Biden’s defense team that fell apart in court Wednesday would have given the first son “broad immunity from prosecution in perpetuity,” according to a report from the courtroom.
The New York Times‘s Glenn Thrush reported Wednesday that the unusual plea deal had “offered Hunter Biden broad immunity from prosecution in perpetuity.”
Thrush reported that Judge Maryellen Noreika was highly skeptical of the plea deal, “questioning why it had been filed under a provision that gave her no legal authority to reject it.”
“When she asked Leo Wise, a prosecutor, if there was any precedent for the kind of deal being proposed, he replied, ‘No, your honor,'” Thrush reported.
Noreika also questioned the discrepancy between Hunter Biden’s lawyers “repeatedly” casting the deal as the “final chapter of the five-year inquiry” into Hunter and the government’s position that the Biden investigation was “ongoing.”
Wise confirmed that the investigation was “ongoing” and said that if Biden’s team thought otherwise, “Then there’s no deal.”
Again from NYT's Glenn Thrush reporting from the courtroom. From the start, the judge seemed highly skeptical of the unusual deal — which offered Hunter Biden broad immunity from prosecution in perpetuity, questioning why it had been filed under a provision that gave her no…
— Sol Wisenberg (@WisenbergSol) July 26, 2023
The deal fell apart after Noreika questioned if it meant that Biden would be immune from prosecution for other potential crimes in perpetuity, including, for example, not properly registering as a foreign agent.
After Wise confirmed that the investigation would not give Biden immunity in perpetuity, Biden’s lead lawyer, Chris Clark, called the agreement “null and void.”
Clark then reportedly asked for a recess to try to salvage the deal.
One prominent criminal defense attorney opined that a deal “not enforceable by a court” had been made under the table.
“Whatever happened in the Hunter Biden case wasn’t based on what was filed publicly. The fallout was due to something that the parties had agreed to privately, something that was not enforceable by a court. This is shady [as f*ck],” Marina Medvin tweeted.
Whatever happened in the Hunter Biden case wasn't based on what was filed publicly. The fallout was due to something that the parties had agreed to privately, something that was not enforceable by a court. This is shady AF.
There is no way that the feds gave Hunter blanket… https://t.co/B1W8hEU5px
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) July 26, 2023
She added, “There is no way that the feds gave Hunter blanket immunity and a global plea deal but then failed to write it down. But the defense lawyers seem to have believed there was some kind of promise made under the table.”
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