Hunter Biden has unexpectedly pleaded not guilty to tax and gun crimes after his ‘sweetheart’ plea deal unexpectedly fell paprt during a court hearing.
The 53-year-old son of US president Joe Biden appeared in Delaware after being charged with evading $100,000 (£77,000) in taxes from income of over $1.5m in 2017 and 2018.
He was expecting to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and walk away with a slap on the wrist having previously reached a deal with prosecutors.
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The Mail Online reports: But in a stunning turn of events, the first agreement unraveled and the latest plea deal over his failure to pay taxes and lying about his crack cocaine addiction when he bought a gun was put on hold.
Hunter initially said ‘yes, your honor’ when asked by the judge if he would plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and admitted he’s been to rehab six times in 20 years for addiction to alcohol and drugs.
The hearing then turned when the Department of Justice lawyers warned Hunter he could still be charged for potential violations for failing to register as a foreign agent over his shady deals – which Republicans say involve his father Joe.
At that news – delivered by top prosecutor Leo Wise – Hunter’s attorney Chris Clark snapped that the deal was ‘null and void’.
There were signs of trouble from the get-go, when U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika allowed she had ‘concerns about the diversion agreement.’
She asked Wise if he had ever seen a diversion agreement ‘so broad that it encompasses crimes in a different case.’
‘What happens if I reject this plea?’ she asked. ‘I don’t mean to violate the separation of powers or do anything (un)constitutional.’
When she pressed the parties on areas of confusion, Clark said he didn’t agree with the government’s characterization.
‘Then there’s no deal,’ Wise said in court.
‘As far as I’m concerned the agreement’s null and void,’ Clark weighed in.
That set off another round of talks after the judge agreed to give them more time, with the government and Team Hunter getting behind it once again.
The case unraveled after a dramatic 24 hours in which Hunter’s attorneys were threatened with sanctions over an alleged prank call to remove bombshell testimony from an IRS whistleblower from the docket.
His lawyers claimed it was a simple mistake.
But the matter put the judge in a fighting mood, and she demanded Hunter’s team provide an explanation by 9pm Tuesday night. The incident did not come up in open court Monday.
At the start of the sensational hearing, Hunter stepped out of a motorcade in silence with a police escort and walked across the sidewalk alongside his legal team and surrounded by Secret Service agents.
He walked into the federal court in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, alongside his ‘sugar brother’ and lawyer Kevin Morris – who was seen smoking a bong during a visit from the president’s son last week.
Hunter revealed to the judge that he was first treated for alcohol abuse in 2003 and was last in an in-patient facility in 2018.
He then insisted he’s been sober since 2019 when warned he faced random drug testing under the conditions of his release.
But in one potentially damaging admission under questioning by the judge, he admitted he was sober when he filed his 2019 return. For his 2017 and 2018, he said he was in the throes of addiction, which he acknowledged in his autobiography.
Prosecutors had recommended probation for Hunter for not paying between $1.1 million and $1.5 million in federal taxes in 2017 and 2018, despite his substantial income from Ukrainian and Chinese energy companies.
They also scolded him for continuing to ‘spend wildly’ on his lavish lifestyle while he had the funds to pay back what he owed.
He could have faced up to 12 months in prison for the tax crimes, and ten years for lying about his crack cocaine addiction on a federal form when buying a gun.
But the agreement sparked fury from Republicans who demanded the judge block it.
The deal had also been under intense scrutiny over the bombshell testimony from the whistleblowers claiming he got preferential treatment during the five-year investigation from U.S. Attorney David Weiss.
Former IRS and FBI agents had come forward to claim they were blocked from conducting a proper investigation into Hunter.
They also alleged that senior officials tipped off Secret Service agents that they wanted to interview the president’s son.
All just rubbish to get the people note prepared for them to prosecute President trump .Did they take Hunters passports ?Did they raise his bail ?He shouldnt even have bail as a self confessed junkie with gun charges .No other historic junkie with proven inability to be treated effectively would be treated so leniently . Normally the judges would know he was going to get out if it by finances so they would jail him pending trial at least to send some message of justice being seen to be done .
A man of even only a little character – when the preponderance of evidence was this great – would own up to it, pay for his crimes, and seek help with his problems.
Hunter has no character at all. (But we already knew that by his treatment of his 4 year old daughter)
So, IF Hunter is a “private citizen” and not an employee of the federal government…. Why do Hunter have a huge government motorcade escorting him to court?