Hunter Biden Plea Falls Apart

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Facts

• Hunter Biden's plea deal on two misdemeanor tax crimes — failing to pay more than $100K in taxes on his $1.5M-plus income in both 2017 and 2018 — has fallen apart after presiding judge Maryellen Noreika raised concerns over language in the agreement regarding not prosecuting Hunter for tax crimes in the future.¹
• Noreika was referring to other possible crimes, including violations related to representing foreign governments. The rejected deal would have also not prosecuted Hunter for possessing an illegal firearm as long as he relinquished all weapons and remained sober for two years.²
• Noreika also threatened Hunter Biden's legal team with sanctions after one of his lawyers allegedly 'misrepresented... who she worked for' to remove filings from GOP Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) from the public docket. Smith had urged the judge to consider whistleblower materials from two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents before deciding on the plea deal.³
• The tumultuous court proceeding, which resulted in Hunter reversing course and pleading not guilty, began Wednesday when prosecutor Leo Wise insisted that the investigation into Hunter's activities remained ongoing and that he could face additional foreign-lobbying charges.⁴
• After Wise asserted that Hunter would not be free from future investigations, his defense attorney Chris Clark said, 'Then there's no deal.' For her part, Judge Noreika raised concerns about the gun charges deal — which would void the entire plea deal if deemed unconstitutional.⁵
• The failed negotiations come as Republicans have intensified their scrutiny of Hunter, arguing that he was receiving special treatment due to his status as the president's son. Yesterday, they also encouraged the judge to consider recent testimony given by two IRS whistleblowers regarding the tax case.⁶

Sources: ¹POLITICO, ²New York Times, ³CNN, ⁴Wall Street Journal, ⁵FOX News and ⁶CBS.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Federalist. Hunter Biden and his father, the most powerful politician in the world, should never have been given a plea deal due to the countless crimes they've committed together. Pres. Biden has helped cover up his son's illicit drug usage, solicitation of prostitutes, and international money laundering schemes with countries such as Ukraine and China. Given that the president just sent cluster bombs to Ukraine, it's more important than ever to take off the kid gloves and investigate every detail of their million-dollar sellout of America.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by Raw Story. Hunter Biden is just the latest child of a Democratic president who Republicans like to ruthlessly attack. They mocked 12-year-old Chelsea Clinton, 10-year-old Malia Obama, and now Hunter Biden — a man recovering from drug addiction who happens to be the son of a politician. Interestingly, however, the GOP was never up in arms over Donald Trump's Daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner's nefarious foreign business dealings while he was president. This is just another example of political theater for the GOP to use ahead of the election.