WILMINGTON, Del. (NewsNation) — Hunter Biden’s plea deal fell apart in court Wednesday, with prosecutors saying there is no deal.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump-appointed judge, had ordered a recess after a disagreement broke out in court and asked for more details on the plea deal.
During the hearing, Noreika zeroed in on the structure of the deal, asking whether the deal covered other potential charges. Prosecutors said no, and that other charges were possible due to investigations that are still ongoing into potential Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) violations.
However, Biden and his team wanted immunity from any future charges. Biden then backed out of the deal, saying the deal includes exemption from future charges or there was no deal.
Prosecutors asked the judge for 10 minutes to try and revive the deal.
“This is the most high-profile collapse I have ever seen,” House Ways and Means Committee’s top lawyer Theodore Kittila said.
Under the deal, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay taxes. He also must commit to court-imposed conditions that will spare him full prosecution on a felony gun charge.
The charges were filed by U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by Trump and kept on during the Biden administration to continue the investigation, which in some aspects continues. Noreika was also appointed by Trump, in 2017.
Prior to Wednesday’s hearing, Hunter Biden’s lawyer had said the guilty pleas are an effort to take responsibility for mistakes that he made “during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life,” and his understanding is that it wraps up the five-year investigation of his client.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.