Hunter Biden to appear in court named for Republican his dad defeated

2023-07-26

Hunter Biden in court: President’s son set to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges in ‘sweetheart deal’

The president’s son will plead guilty to a pair of tax charges on Wednesday
Will likely avoid jail in ‘sweetheart deal’ with prosecutors suggesting probation
Charge for lying on gun purchase form is also set to be wiped

When Hunter Biden pleads guilty before a federal judge in his former hometown of Wilmington, he will admit to crimes in a city steeped in Biden lore – in a courthouse named for a man his father defeated back in 1972.

Overseeing the historic moment and the culmination of a years-long probe will be Judge Maryellen Noreika.

She is a Donald Trump appointee who advanced with the blessing of two Democratic senators, retiring Sen. Tom Carper and Sen. Chris Coons, who is a member of Biden’s campaign ‘national advisory board.’

Adding to the intrigue is a clash over an effort by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith asking the court to toss Hunter’s ‘sweetheart’ deal – and his claim that Hunter’s lawyer’s firm made a misrepresentation to the clerk in order to remove testimony from the court docket. Hunter’s lawyer denied the accusation.

The drama is certain to draw the national media spotlight, and the Caleb Boggs Federal Courthouse is already planning an overflow room to accommodate the spike in interest.

Boggs is the Republican Biden beat by 3,162 votes five decades ago – although the two didn’t end up as rivals. Biden called him a ‘decent guy’ at a fundraiser in January, in a contrast with the MAGA Republicans he regularly denounces, and who have organized inquiries into his son’s business dealings.

Hunter Biden is set to plead guilty to two tax charges in federal court in his former hometown of Wilmington on Wednesday

‘I won against a guy — he was a decent man; he supported me the next time I ran. His name was J. Caleb Boggs. He was a mainstream Republican. He was one of the guys who was very deeply engaged in setting up the situation in terms of the affordable — excuse me, the environmental legislation. He was a — he was a decent guy,’ Biden said.

Hunter will make plea in city filled with Biden milestones

Hunter’s appearance in court, which Republicans have blasted as a sweetheart deal, takes place just four blocks from the historic Hotel Dupont, where Biden launched his 1972 campaign.

His humiliation comes in a city steeped in Biden lore and Biden remembrances. There is the Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station, which is how Hunter will arrive should he be commuting from Washington, where he has frequently turned up at the White House even amid congressional probes.

Should he chose to drive to keep a low profile, there is the Biden Welcome Center just off I-95.

A Biden lawyer didn’t respond questions about whether he would speak to the public after his plea.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn’t say if any family members would accompany the first son, though she noted the president would be in D.C. and the first lady is out of town in Paris.

‘I’m just not going to get into anything that’s related to Hunter Biden,’ she said Tuesday. ‘He’s a private citizen.’

The courthouse where Biden will plead is named for the late Sen. Caleb Boggs, the Republican whom Biden defeated in 1972

Judge Maryellen Noreika will oversee the hearing – and could overrule prosecutors’ recommendations on sentencing

Biden was the youngest senator when he was sworn in. His son Hunter, 48, is pleading guilty to tax charges and avoided a gun charge

Biden has called Caleb Boggs, who died in 1993, a ‘decent’ Republican

Hunter Biden’s plea comes days before his friend Devon Archer is set to testify before Republicans in Congress probing his finances

What will happen Wednesday? Will the judge follow prosecutors’ recommendation of probation?

Hunter Biden is expected to play a very small part in Wednesday’s events. He must appear in person at the federal courthouse.

Prosecutors will present the judge with a criminal information spelling out exactly the charges to which he is pleading guilty.

At one point, the judge will ask Hunter to enter his plea, making it part of the official record.

But his lawyers will do most of the talking in court. He will have to satisfy the judge that he is making the plea willingly and that he is aware of the consequences of his decision, including giving up his right to a trial. This will likely consist of a series of yes or no questions.

The main action will be watching to see whether the judge accepts the no-jail recommendation put forward by prosecutors, who have already negotiated with Hunter’s lawyer in advance.

She is likely to agree with prosecutors’ recommendation of probation, but she could reject it. She also could give the defendant a tongue-lashing for his failure to pay should she choose.

Pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges for failure to pay in a ‘sweetheart deal’ – and gun charges getting wiped

A document U.S. Attorney David Weiss filed with the court last month states that the criminal information charges the defendant with tax offenses – ‘namely two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax,’ as well as ‘one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.’

That came during a troubled time for Hunter Biden. Hallie Biden, the widow of his late brother Beau Biden, threw the weapon into a trash can behind a grocery store, Politico reported. She and Hunter were in a romantic relationship at the time. Hunter has acknowledged his struggles with drugs and alcohol during the period.

Said Biden lawyer Christopher Clark: ‘With the announcement of two agreements between my client, Hunter Biden, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware, it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved.’

The court pleading takes place in a city that will soon host Biden’s reelection campaign, according to a senior White House official – although to date his relatively small operation has been running out of Washington, D.C.

It is also the same city where Hunter reportedly brought his infamous laptop for repairs – in an event that continues to have reverberations, with Biden nemesis Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) just last week sharing blocked out nude images and accusing the president’s son of trafficking women across state lines for prostitution.

The judge is a Trump appointee who gave to Hillary during a failed Biden run

Judge Noreika donated to Hillary Clinton in 2008, when Biden was among the longshot Democrats challenging the frontrunner. He also gave to the late Republican Sen. John McCain, a Joe Biden friend, and to the Democratic campaign arm in 2009. Senate Democrats helped push through the stimulus package and Obamacare after Barack Obama tapped Biden as his running mate.

On the presidential level, she gave $1,000 to then-New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign for the Democratic nomination. She later donated $2,300 to the eventual 2008 Republican nominee, then-Arizona Sen. John McCain. She donated to the subsequent GOP nominee as well, giving $2,500 to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012.

Noreika also financially supported Sen. Tom Cotton, a conservative Republican from Arkansas, during his campaign in 2014, when he unseated an incumbent Democratic senator. And she donated $1,000 to Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Rick Santorum in 2005.

She also donated $1,000 in 2009 to the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, the DSCC.

Weiss, a holdover from the Trump administration who Biden kept on in a move meant to demonstrate his independence, has been overseeing the politically charged probe.

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