'Rip it up': Dramatic moment Hunter's lawyer said deal was off
‘Rip it up’: Dramatic moment Hunter’s lawyer told prosecutors ‘sweetheart’ deal was off after judge eviscerated agreement – and APOLOGIZED to president’s son for dragging out his legal problems
- U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika savaged the terms of the agreement
- It would dispense with two misdemeanor tax charges and a gun charge
- She demanded clarity, causing lawyers to clash; then they united to defend it
Hunter Biden’s lawyers and government prosecutors traded angry accusations as a plea deal they negotiated faced withering fire from a judge who warned them it was unprecedented and possibly unconstitutional.
The clash came after federal judge Maryellen Noreika lodged a series of attacks against the agreement that would keep the president’s son out of jail on two tax charges and avoid prosecution on a gun charge.
She claimed her objections were in part looking out for Hunter’s interest, and ensuring he knew exactly how much protection he would or would not enjoy under the deal. That forced a tense negotiation after the judge left her courtroom and teams of lawyers faced off in talks an hour into a hearing that was expected to be a mere formality. It resulted in a politically perilous delay – and got the government to say its probe was ‘ongoing.’
‘I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish,’ Biden lawyer Chris Clark told prosector Leo Wise, in a jab he made well within earshot of DailyMail.com at the front of the courtroom as the haggling was underway.
‘You can’t get around that,’ Wise countered, picking apart part of his argument.
‘Then we’ll rip it up!’ Hunter Biden’s lawyers clashed with prosecutors after a federal judge put his plea deal under scrutiny
‘Then we’ll rip it up!’ Clark responded. The back-and-forth took place after Judge Noreika’s questioning put the deal that would allow Hunter to avoid jail time for failure to pay taxes on the skids.
It was a posture she said she was compelled to take by the unprecedented nature of the agreement before her – although that didn’t keep her from extending sympathy to the president’s son.
‘Mr. Biden, I know you want to get this over with,’ she told him at the end of the three-hour slugfest – which had the effect of pushing off Hunter’s plea, and extending his legal woes into late summer and the fall as his father gears up his presidential reelection campaign.
It also will keep Biden’s legal woes in the spotlight even as his father’s nemesis Donald Trump faces potential indictment related his election overturn effort.
The team of lawyers soon took their dispute to the back of the courtroom, where they would ultimately unify but find themselves confronting a relentless inquisitor in Judge Noreika.
Biden lawyer Chris Clark threatened to ‘rip up’ an agreement – then asked a judge for more time to reach an understanding with prosecutors
‘You can’t get around that,’ federal prosecutor Leo Wise told Hunter Biden’s team during tense negotiations over the precise nature of a plea deal they already negotiated
The president’s son, who had put on a display of confidence and politeness inside the courtroom – sporting a smart suit and shaking hands with lawyers on the government’s side of the courtroom – suddenly betrayed a look of concern.
For one of the few times during the three-hour drama, he placed his hand on a microphone and looked back toward dozens of reporters who were scribbling down the stunning turn of events.
But the deal did not blow up. In fact, much of the drama inside the Caleb Boggs Federal Courthouse featured an alliance of defense lawyers and prosecutors defending their handiwork against slicing comments by the judge.
Clark would soon pat his client on the back, in a possible indication that the deal was back on.
The discussions appeared to bring some additional clarity to what the sides did and did not agree to. Judge Noreika wanted to know if there were any potential crimes prosecutors could still charge Hunter with even after the deal. She also raised a series of objections to a ‘diversion agreement’ that would allow Hunter to avoid prosecution for lying on a gun purchase form.
She fumed repeatedly that she was not a ‘rubber stamp.’
When she came back in court, Wise had to defend the agreement, which congressional Republicans had already slammed as a ‘sweetheart deal.’
Both teams had to answer to flaws she pointed out. ‘What happens if I reject the plea?’ the judge wanted to know, on grounds that it included an agreement not to prosecute.
Wise admitted there is ‘the possibility that additional charges could be brought.’ He said there was an ‘ongoing’ investigation, then added cryptically, ‘I’m not in a position where I can say’ what they pertained to.
‘You seem to be asking for the imprimatur of the court for the agreement,’ the judge vented. She also complained that the lawyers said she did not have a role in approving the type of plea they negotiated – but also that they gave her a role in serving as referee if Hunter were to be found in breach of the gun diversion agreement.
‘I guess i’m supposed to rubber stamp,’ she complained.
The jockeying came in a bizarre hearing where the president’s son not only had to state his full name, but spell it out.
‘B-I-D-E-N,’ he told the judge.
He had a team of lawyers before the bench, but another four including high profile defense attorney Abbe Lowell and three other lawyers sitting behind them.
Also there was ‘sugar bro’ Kevin Morris, who paid Hunter’s outstanding tax bill, which was a condition of resolving the matter. His name didn’t come up in court, and he declined to take a question from DailyMail.com when approached.
He also offered counsel to Hunter, who looked increasingly dejected as the hearing wore on. At one point they exchanged a friendly but partial gimme-five gesture, although their hands only breezed together.
Following the round of pressure from the judge, Wise acknowledged that the feds couldn’t bring serious tax evasion charges under the agreement. But they could hit Hunter for potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which prosecutors used against Trump-world figures in the last administration.
That prompted yet another clash between the lawyers.
‘As stated by the government now, I don’t agree what the the government said,’ Clark said in court.
‘Then there’s no deal,’ snapped Wise.’
‘Where does that leave us?’ asked the judge.
‘As far as I’m concerned, the plea agreement’s null and void,’ said Clark.
But when the judge started talking about a next hearing in 30 days, it was Clark who asked to try to ‘take 10 minutes’ to try to resolve differences.
They ultimately did – but not to the judge’s satisfaction.
Biden unexpectedly pleaded not guilty to tax and gun crimes after his ‘sweetheart’ plea deal collapsed in a sensational court hearing.
The scandal-hit first son is also still on the hook for any crimes linked to foreign deals with China and Ukraine after the judge dramatically rejected the first agreement that would have shielded him from future charges and seen him avoid jail.
Hunter had arrived at federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, expecting to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and walk away with a slap on the wrist.
But in a stunning turn of events, the first agreement unraveled and the latest plea deal over his failure to pay taxes and lying about his crack cocaine addiction when he bought a gun was put on hold.
Hunter initially said ‘yes, your honor’ when asked by the judge if he would plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and admitted he’s been to rehab six times in 20 years for addiction to alcohol and drugs.
The hearing then turned when the Department of Justice lawyers warned Hunter he could still be charged for potential violations for failing to register as a foreign agent over his shady deals – which Republicans say involve his father Joe.
At that news – delivered by top prosecutor Leo Wise – Hunter’s attorney Chris Clark snapped that the deal was ‘null and void’.
Hunter Biden could be on the hook for more criminal charges related to his business deals with China and Ukraine after prosecutors and his legal team negotiated a limited new plea deal – because their first agreement sensationally collapsed
There were signs of trouble from the get-go, when U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika allowed she had ‘concerns about the diversion agreement.’
She asked Wise if he had ever seen a diversion agreement ‘so broad that it encompasses crimes in a different case.’
‘What happens if I reject this plea?’ she asked. ‘I don’t mean to violate the separation of powers or do anything (un)constitutional.’
When she pressed the parties on areas of confusion, Clark said he didn’t agree with the government’s characterization.
‘Then there’s no deal,’ Wise said in court.
‘As far as I’m concerned the agreement’s null and void,’ Clark weighed in.
That set off another round of talks after the judge agreed to give them more time, with the government and Team Hunter getting behind it once again.
The case unraveled after a dramatic 24 hours in which Hunter’s attorneys were threatened with sanctions over an alleged prank call to remove bombshell testimony from an IRS whistleblower from the docket.
His lawyers claimed it was a simple mistake.
But the matter put the judge in a fighting mood, and she demanded Hunter’s team provide an explanation by 9pm Tuesday night. The incident did not come up in open court Monday.
At the start of the sensational hearing, Hunter stepped out of a motorcade in silence with a police escort and walked across the sidewalk alongside his legal team and surrounded by Secret Service agents.
He walked into the federal court in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, alongside his ‘sugar brother’ and lawyer Kevin Morris – who was seen smoking a bong during a visit from the president’s son last week.
Hunter revealed to the judge that he was first treated for alcohol abuse in 2003 and was last in an in-patient facility in 2018.
He then insisted he’s been sober since 2019 when warned he faced random drug testing under the conditions of his release.
But in one potentially damaging admission under questioning by the judge, he admitted he was sober when he filed his 2018 return, which was due in October 2019 after an automatic extension.
‘And you were sober at the time?’ she asked him.
‘I was, your honor,’ Biden replied.
He said he was ‘utting my life back together’ and there was a ‘flood of an enormous amount of deadlines.’
Prosecutors had recommended probation for Hunter for not paying between $1.1 million and $1.5 million in federal taxes in 2017 and 2018, despite his substantial income from Ukrainian and Chinese energy companies.
They also scolded him for continuing to ‘spend wildly’ on his lavish lifestyle while he had the funds to pay back what he owed.
Hunter walked into the federal court in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, alongside his ‘sugar brother’ and lawyer Kevin Morris (left) – who was seen smoking a bong during a visit from the president’s son last week
He could have faced up to 12 months in prison for the tax crimes, and ten years for lying about his crack cocaine addiction on a federal form when buying a gun.
But the agreement sparked fury from Republicans who demanded the judge block it.
The deal had also been under intense scrutiny over the bombshell testimony from the whistleblowers claiming he got preferential treatment during the five-year investigation from U.S. Attorney David Weiss.
Former IRS and FBI agents had come forward to claim they were blocked from conducting a proper investigation into Hunter.
They also alleged that senior officials tipped off Secret Service agents that they wanted to interview the president’s son.
The president’s scandal-hit son said ‘yes, your honor’ when asked by the judge if he was going to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors, and admitted he’s been to rehab six times in 20 years for addiction to drinking and drugs
Kevin Morris, the lawyer who helped Hunter pay off $2million in delinquent taxes, walks behind the president’s son on the way into the courthouse
Law enforcement secure the area outside the federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, ahead of Hunter Biden’s court appearance on Wednesday
Hunter allegedly lied on a firearm report (above) required for his gun transaction. A photo of the form shows he answered ‘no’ when asked if he was an ‘unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance
Last Thursday, Hunter’s attorney Kevin Morris was seen smoking from a bong in public view. He has been revealed as one of the buyers of Hunter’s artwork
The night before his hearing, Hunter flew alongside Morris in a private jet from Los Angeles to Philadelphia.
That same evening, Judge Noreika was at the center of drama after she threatened Hunter’s lawyers with sanctions.
But Hunter’s lawyers blamed allegations they conspired to a lie simply to an ‘unfortunate misunderstanding’.
A picture from Hunter Biden’s leaked hard drive shows him posing naked while holding a semi-automatic handgun by his side
‘The matter under consideration appears to stem from an unfortunate and unintentional miscommunication between a staff member at our firm and employees of the Court. We have no idea how the misunderstanding occurred, but our understanding is there was no misrepresentation,’ Matthew Salerno wrote to Judge Noreika on Tuesday evening.
He claimed that Jessica Bengels, the Latham staffer accused of pretending to be from another law firm, has a phone number which should show up as ‘LATHAM’ on the clerk’s caller ID, indicating she was calling from the legal firm Latham & Watkins.
Salerno attached an affidavit from Bengels, in which she claimed she initially called a court clerk called ‘Julia’, from her Latham phone, identified herself truthfully, but was later called back by a different clerk, Samantha.
‘At around 11.54am, another Court employee called my Latham & Watkins phone number (which I believe she knew through caller ID) to let me know she would be removing the material from the docket,’ Bengels wrote. ‘She did not ask which law firm I was affiliated with, and at no time during this call did I mention anything about my law firm affiliation.
‘I believe there may have been some confusion when Julia passed the information on to the other Court employee, resulting in a mistaken understanding that I had called from Mr. Kittila’s firm.
‘I am completely confident that I never indicated that I was calling from Mr. Kittila’s firm or that I worked with him in any way.’
She was referring to Theodore Kittila, the attorney representing the GOP House Ways and Means Committee.
Hunter Biden’s many controversies have been a headache for his father’s presidential term and could be weaponized by Republicans in the 2024 race. The president and his son are pictured together in August 2022
The misdemeanor charges Hunter is facing stem from the unpaid taxes, and lying about his drug use when he bought a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver in October 2018.
Delaware, where the First Son purchased the 0.38 caliber pistol, makes any buyer answer a series of questions before they can lay their hands on a weapon.
One from the 2018 application asks if the applicant uses or is addicted to drugs. The box is clearly checked ‘no.’
When Hunter was first charged, the president and first lady said they were ‘proud’ of him.
However, the White House has avoided discussing Hunter’s legal troubles by claiming he is a private citizen or referring questions to the Department of Justice.
His lawyer Christopher Clark said last month: ‘I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life.
‘He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.’
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