A collapsed plea deal between the US federal prosecutors and Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, was recently disclosed, revealing a distinctive clause that could have granted him immunity from any further legal actions.
The suggested plea deal was released by Politico, which also shared a controversial diversion agreement.
Hunter Biden had previously agreed, as reported by Breitbart News, to acknowledge guilt to two misdemeanor counts for neglecting income tax payments. He also committed to joining a diversion program for his felony charge of illegal possession of a firearm while being drug dependent.
Hunter Gets Surprise
This plea agreement features a thorough disclosure of facts associated with Hunter Biden's overseas business transactions, lavish expenditures, and past drug use.
The diversion agreement contained this contentious statement:
The United States agrees not to criminally prosecute Biden, outside of the terms of the Agreement, for any federal crimes encompassed by the attached Statement of Facts (Attachment A) and the Statement of Facts attached as Exhibit 1 to the Memorandum of Plea Agreement filed this same day.
In essence, this could have shielded Hunter Biden from any future legal actions related to his financial transactions, including the claim that he failed to comply with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
This immunity could enable Hunter Biden to resist cooperating with investigators, potentially protecting his father, President Biden, from the emergence of further incriminating evidence.
Judge Maryellen Noreika was hesitant to approve the plea agreement, especially when both the prosecution and defense failed to provide legal precedent for such a deal.
Former federal prosecutor Will Scharf, currently campaigning for attorney general in Missouri, had accurately anticipated that the immunity clause was discreetly embedded in the diversion agreement. Scharf stated: "Judge Noreika smelled a rat. She understood that the lawyers were trying to paint her into a corner and hide the ball. Instead, she backed DOJ and Hunter’s lawyers into a corner by pulling all the details out into the open and then indicating that she wasn’t going to approve a deal as broad as what she had discovered."
Judge Noreika offered a 30-day window for both parties to negotiate a new agreement. Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty.
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