A federal judge in Delaware ordered prosecutors and defence attorneys on Thursday to provide a status report regarding a felony gun charge against Hunter Biden.
Judge Maryellen Noreika directed lawyers to provide the report by next Wednesday, including any steps they believe the court needs to take. Attorneys for Biden have argued that a “diversion agreement” sparing him from prosecution on the gun charge is still in place, even though it was inextricably linked to a plea deal on misdemeanour tax offences that imploded during a court appearance in July. Noreika dismissed the tax case, and prosecutors have indicated they plan to pursue tax charges against President Joe Biden’s son in another district, perhaps California or Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, prosecutors maintain that the agreement on the gun charge, which contains unprecedented immunity provisions against federal prosecutions for other potential crimes, never took effect and is no longer valid.
The two-part deal on tax and gun charges was supposed to have largely wrapped up a years-long investigation overseen by Delaware US Attorney David Weiss.
