For the better part of three hours, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika scrutinized nearly every facet of the plea deal -- prompting shrugs, audible exhales, frantic glances and other expressions of discontent from the government's attorneys and defense counsel alike.Hunter Biden had originally agreed to acknowledge his failure to pay taxes on income he received in 2017 and 2018. In exchange, prosecutors would have recommended probation, meaning he would likely have avoided prison time.
In court on Wednesday, Noreika, a Trump appointee, raised concerns about the parties linking Hunter Biden's tax plea agreement to the deal on the gun charge and over whether or not a provision in the deal would grant Hunter Biden blanket immunity -- meaning that the government would not prosecute more broadly going forward.
“I have concerns about the agreement, and that’s why I’m asking these questions," Noreika said during the hearing, also saying,"I'm trying to exercise due diligence." The hearing was punctuated by multiple recesses, including in the immediate aftermath of Clark's statement, during which lawyers scrambled to negotiate their way out of divergent perspectives on the immunity deal.
During one recess, as the parties awaited the judge's return to the bench, Abbe Lowell, a seasoned defense attorney who is handling other matters for Hunter Biden, approached Weiss and introduced himself."Looks like I'm going to be involved in the fray now," he said, before shaking his hand and returning to his seat in the gallery.
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