BREAKING: Hunter’s Plea Deal Falls Apart In Federal Court; Here’s What We Know

The judge overseeing a deal reached between federal prosecutors and Hunter Biden has reportedly thrown out the plea agreement over concerns that details of the ongoing investigation are not being considered in the prosecution’s decision to spare the president’s son from jail time in exchange for pleading guilty to tax and gun charges.

Kara Scannell with CNN left the courtroom just moments ago to tell viewers that Judge Maryellen Norieka specifically asked prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office for Delaware whether the deal would include evidence from an investigation into whether Hunter Biden should have registered as a foreign agent while representing overseas companies from whom he collected millions of dollars and then falsely reported to the Internal Revenue Service. Representatives for U.S. Attorney David Weiss told the judge that part of their office’s investigation would not be included.

“If you can charge that, then what does this mean?” asked Judge Norieka.

Attorneys for Hunter Biden said if foreign agent charges were to move forward, then their client would not be pleading guilty as planned.

“Then there is no deal,” the judge concluded.

WATCH:

🚨BREAKING: Hunter Biden's plea deal just fell apart in court due to investigations that are still on going into potential FARA violations. pic.twitter.com/wn6qoXGMSD

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 26, 2023

Fox News and MSNBC quickly confirmed the details of the tense exchange.

WATCH:

🚨BREAKING: Judge strikes down Hunter Biden sweetheart plea deal pic.twitter.com/0lElF01UiZ

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 26, 2023

#BREAKING: The Hunter Biden plea deal is DEAD after the judge expressed MAJOR concerns about the pretrial diversion program for Hunter's felony gun charge that would wipe out additional tax charges. pic.twitter.com/jJ63SwUHCm

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 26, 2023

Weiss’s team and attorneys for Hunter Biden will now move into discussions around how to proceed with a deal that has been criticized as emblematic of a two-tiered justice system that benefits the son of President Joe Biden while vigorously pursuing criminal charges against Republican former President Donald Trump.

The Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office has already come under fire for employing a politically-connected friend of Hunter Biden who privately lamented the election of President Trump and provided casual legal advice to the first son. Weiss has denied allegations by IRS whistleblowers that their investigation into the Biden son was stymied by the Justice Department and that Weiss would not be the “deciding official” as to whether Hunter Biden was ultimately charged. Gary Shapley, one of the whistleblowers, maintained that Weiss was denied special counsel powers which would have allowed him to charge Hunter Biden in other districts where U.S. attorneys have made political donations to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, tainting their impartiality.