Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal was even sweeter before news broke that IRS whistleblowers had come to Congress complaining of irregularities in the handling of the case, according to reports published Saturday by Politico and the New York Times.
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The Politico report was based on a cache of leaked documents and emails related to the case as well as conversations with sources.
Both reports state that the original plea deal between Hunter Biden’s lawyers and prosecutors with then Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss (now Special Counsel Weiss) called for no guilty plea by Hunter to both the tax and gun charges, with no formal charges filed, and with everything covered by a pre-trial diversion immunity agreement.
The sides went back and forth and appeared to have reached a final agreement by mid-May. But just days after a May 24 interview of IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley by CBS News aired, Weiss demanded guilty pleas on the tax charges but kept the pre-trial diversion immunity deal for the gun charge. Biden’s lawyers agreed and after a few tweaks by the probation officer the two sides headed to court on July 26 where the deal fell apart under scrutiny by Judge Maryellen Noreika.
New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt, “NEW: David Weiss, US attorney overseeing Hunter investigation, appeared willing to end the inquiry w/out forcing Hunter to plead guilty. But documents show Weiss position changed at same time a pair of IRS agents accused DOJ of hamstringing investigation.”
NEW: David Weiss, US attorney overseeing Hunter investigation, appeared willing to end the inquiry w/out forcing Hunter to plead guilty. But documents show Weiss position changed at same time a pair of IRS agents accused DOJ of hamstringing investigation. https://t.co/AaG3uU5Iei
— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) August 19, 2023
Politico also reports that Hunter’s lawyers threatened to call Joe Biden to testify if the gun case went to trial, “New: Hunter Biden’s lawyer told prosecutors that if they charged Hunter with a gun crime, President Biden would be called to testify at trial as a witness for the defense. The lawyer said this would trigger a “Constitutional crisis””
New: Hunter Biden’s lawyer told prosecutors that if they charged Hunter with a gun crime, President Biden would be called to testify at trial as a witness for the defense.
The lawyer said this would trigger a “Constitutional crisis”https://t.co/EvLm7vWYLu
— Betsy Woodruff Swan (@woodruffbets) August 19, 2023
Excerpt from the report by Politico::
The Justice Department would insist on filing a court document charging Biden with two tax misdemeanors and one felony offense for possessing a gun as a drug user. They’d want the deal to be structured as a pretrial diversion agreement, which meant it would come with a built-in promise to drop all charges against Biden if he abided by its terms for several years. They’d want the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office in Delaware to supervise Biden during that period. The deal would be public, and it would reference Biden’s former drug use and current sobriety. He’d need to stop using drugs and to consent to drug testing. The deal would also have to include a longer statement of facts, a lifetime gun ban, and a commitment not to publicly proclaim his innocence. Pleading guilty was not on Wolf’s list of must-haves.
The next morning, on May 19, Wolf pointed to another deal that Biden’s could be modeled on: an agreement the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office had made with camera company Aegis Electronic Group, Inc. in 2011 to resolve allegations that it violated sanctions on Iran. Aegis didn’t plead guilty to anything, and the Justice Department eventually withdrew charges. As part of that agreement –– which Weiss had greenlit –– Aegis had to cooperate with the feds’ ongoing investigation. But Biden’s deal, Wolf wrote, wouldn’t need a similar cooperation requirement.
That evening, one of Hunter Biden’s lawyers sent another draft pretrial diversion agreement addressing both the gun and tax issues. It was still quite similar to their first. It also incorporated Wolf’s must-haves, and it guaranteed Biden the same broad protection from prosecution for anything the Justice Department had investigated up to that point. It also guaranteed that the department would move to dismiss all charges if Biden upheld his end of the deal –– no guilty plea necessary.
Five days later, on May 24, Gary Shapley –– the IRS investigator who had supervised the Hunter Biden probe, and whose congressional outreach sparked the Wall Street Journal story –– went public in an interview with CBS News and said the Justice Department had “slow-walked” the investigation.
Weiss and Garland have both publicly defended the integrity of the investigation.
Within days of the interview airing, Justice Department prosecutors made clear to Biden’s lawyers that the deal would have to change and that Biden would need to plead guilty to tax charges, according to two people familiar with the talks who were granted anonymity to share sensitive details.
Biden’s team acceded to the new demand, agreeing he would plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to pay his taxes. But he wouldn’t plead guilty to the gun charge; instead, that issue would be resolved through a pretrial diversion agreement that could result in withdrawal of charges after a few years.
End excerpt, please read the entire Politico article at this link.
Since being named special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland this month, Weiss has dropped the tax charges from the Delaware federal court in anticipation they will be refiled in California and Washington, D.C. for potential trials. The Federalist’s Margot Cleveland reported Saturday the gun case is still on file in Delaware as the pre-trial diversion immunity deal is in limbo with Weiss’ office saying it is void and Biden’s attorney’s arguing it is in force.
2/ That dismissal was only in the docket 274 docket.
The 61 docket is the felony gun charge. And NO dismissal has been entered in that case. pic.twitter.com/biXChzYjbk
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) August 19, 2023
4/ For FELONY gun charge venue is appropriate in Delaware. THIS CASE IS STILL LIVE! Also means Judge Noreika will decide validity of pretrial diversion agreement b/c if valid this charge is dead & if not it isn’t. I totally missed dismissal motion only filed in one docket! pic.twitter.com/HBSeB85HEh
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) August 19, 2023
The post Hunter Biden’s Original Sweetheart Plea Deal Called for No Guilty Pleas at All on Tax and Gun Charges, Was Derailed by News of IRS Whistleblower: Reports appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
