President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden arrives for a court appearance, Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, was ready to plead guilty on Wednesday to tax misdemeanor charges and a single federal gun charge but things went off the rails after the presiding federal judge in the matter raised an eyebrow over terms of the agreement and sent the parties back to the drawing board.
The president’s son, donning a dark blue suit, appeared before U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika in Delaware early Wednesday afternoon where he was on track to enter guilty pleas for two charges related to his failure to pay taxes on time in 2017 and 2018. Prosecutors say Biden owed the federal government between $1.1 million and $1.5 million in taxes. He has since paid them in full, including penalties and interest. Prosecutors recommended Biden be sentenced to probation for those charges.
But Noreika, a Donald Trump appointee, had pause on Wednesday, according to PBS, which reported that she was unsatisfied with the terms of Biden’s “diversion agreement” for the felony gun charge specifically.
For Biden, who has struggled with substance abuse and drug addiction for years, it was a felony for him to possess a Colt Cobra .38 Special for just under two weeks in October 2018 while he was using drugs. The “diversion agreement” essentially meant that the president’s son would not plead guilty to the gun charge so long as he held to the agreement’s provisions, including staying clean and subjecting himself to random drug tests by the court.
CNN reported Wednesday that the president’s son told Noreika he is sober and has abstained from using drugs or alcohol since 2019.
Nonetheless, in reviewing the agreement for the gun charge, Noreika called it “unusual,” noting the diversion agreement’s use of “non-standard terms” like “broad immunity” from other possible charges Biden could face. Diversion agreements, she noted, were not usually made public.
For now, the judge said she was not prepared to accept the deal and asked both the prosecution and defense to file an additional brief that would explain how the agreements were reached.
This story is developing.
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