U.S. prosecutors went back on a plea deal reached with President Joe Biden’s son, lawyers for Hunter Biden said in a new filing.
The prosecutors made the decision “to renege on the previously agreed-upon plea agreement,” lawyers for Mr. Biden, 53, said late on Aug. 13.
Mr. Biden had agreed to plead guilty to two counts of intentionally failing to pay taxes. Mr. Biden and prosecutors had also agreed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement for a felony gun charge.
In the first hearing in the case after prosecutors announced the deals, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, the judge overseeing the case, raised concerns about some of the details that connected them.
She discovered during the hearing that the diversion agreement featured promises from prosecutors to not prosecute the gun charge and other charges, including those related to the tax issues outside of the two counts that have already been brought.
“Have you ever seen a diversion agreement where the agreement not to prosecute is so broad that it encompasses crimes in a different case?” Judge Norieka, appointed under President Donald Trump, asked prosecutors.
Leo Wise, one of the prosecutors, responded, “No.”
The parties later disagreed on what the details meant, with one of Mr. Biden’s attorneys saying that “the plea agreement is null and void,” leading to Mr. Biden pleading not guilty.
Prosecutors later said that the parties had tried negotiating an updated agreement for the tax charges but had reached an impasse and that a trial was likely.
The immunity that would have been granted “would be broad immunity,” Mr. Lowell said.
Mr. Biden’s lawyers said they agreed that a briefing to the judge wasn’t necessary in light of what had transpired, signaling that the plea deal is scrapped.
But Mr. Lowell said Mr. Biden’s team was trying to avoid a trial and suggested that a newly crafted agreement is still a possibility.
“We were trying to avoid one all along. And so were the prosecutors who came forward to us and were the ones to say, ‘Can there be a resolution short of a prosecution?’ So they wanted it and maybe they still do want it,” Mr. Lowell said.
The two counts are misdemeanors, and each carries a prison term of up to one year upon conviction.
Prosecutors have also indicated that the diversion agreement is separate from the plea deal and that the former is still in place.
Mr. Biden’s lawyers said they share that position.
“The defendant intends to abide by the terms of the diversion agreement,” they wrote, noting later that “the parties have a valid and binding bilateral diversion agreement.”
The diversion agreement would enable Mr. Biden, if he complies with the terms, to avoid pleading guilty or going to trial on the gun charge, which is a felony and would carry up to 10 years in prison.
Under the terms, Mr. Biden agrees to not buy or own a gun for 24 months, forfeit all guns and ammunition that he does own, and not use alcohol or other drugs.
The felony charge was for allegedly possessing a gun while being a user of an illegal drug.
The new filing was in response to the prosecutorial request for the judge to dismiss the tax charges.
Prosecutors said the request came because, following the impasse in negotiations, they intend to bring the charges in different venues.
“Venue for these offenses does not lie in Delaware,” said U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who has since been appointed special counsel. “Rather, venue for these offenses and any other related tax offenses lies either in the Central District of California or in the District of Columbia.
“The information was filed in this District because the parties had previously agreed that the Defendant would waive any challenge to venue and plead guilty in this District. However, during the July 26, 2023, hearing that the Court set on this matter, the Defendant pled not guilty. Since that time, the parties have engaged in further plea negotiations but are at an impasse.”
Mr. Weiss was appointed under Mr. Trump.
