Hunter Biden’s Plea Deal Falls Apart: What to Know

Attorney General Merrick Garland named Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss as a special counsel to continue his prosecution of Hunter Biden after plea talks broke down, heightening legal peril for the president’s son as his father campaigns for re-election.

The appointment, which allows Weiss to prosecute Hunter Biden in any district he deems appropriate rather than solely in Delaware, came on Aug. 11, the same day Weiss said in a court filing that plea talks with Biden were at an impasse and prosecutors expected the case against him to go to trial.

The moves marked a stunning turn of events after it appeared the younger Biden would start putting his troubles behind him—and out of his father’s re-election campaign—by pleading guilty to misdemeanor tax charges and entering into an agreement to avoid a gun charge. 

Here’s a look at the politically fraught new chapter in Hunter Biden’s long-running legal saga.

Why did the plea talks fall apart?

Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in July to federal tax charges, a surprise reversal that came after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika in Delaware refused to sign off on the earlier deal he had reached to plead guilty to tax charges and enter a separate agreement to resolve a gun charge. The judge said she needed more information and time to review the deal, citing what she described as its atypical provisions. On Aug. 11, prosecutors said talks to salvage the gun agreement had also broken down. 

Weiss’s team and defense lawyers kept trying to shore up the agreement during the weeks after the July 26 hearing, but couldn’t overcome differences about the extent of the immunity from potential future prosecution Hunter Biden would receive, a person familiar with the talks said. Weiss regarded the plea agreement as a draft that could be changed, even though it had been signed by one of his top prosecutors, the person said. 

The U.S. attorney ultimately proposed a new deal that didn’t contain the previous guarantee of immunity, the person said, and the talks collapsed.

What has the defense said?

Days after prosecutors announced the deal’s demise, Hunter Biden’s legal team said the Justice Department had decided to “renege on the previously agreed-upon plea agreement.” 

A major part of the botched deal—Hunter Biden’s agreement to enroll in a diversion program for gun offenders—should stand, the lawyers argued. Prosecutors had agreed not to pursue a separate felony gun-possession charge against the younger Biden as long as he remains drug-free and agrees to never own a firearm again. His attorneys said he intends to abide by the terms of the agreement and expects prosecutors to do the same.

What has been the political fallout?

The almost daily developments in the case present President Biden’s re-election campaign with the prospect that his son’s travails will figure largely in the 2024 race and risk affecting voters’ view of the president.

White House allies went into the summer thinking Hunter Biden’s legal woes would be largely taken off the table with the plea deal, leaving them to contend only with attacks from Republican lawmakers, who have continued to investigate his activities with an eye to implicating the president. 

While the congressional probes have elicited testimony from two Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers who say the Biden administration sought to impede the investigation into Hunter Biden, they have sometimes overstated their findings. Now Democrats must contemplate a lengthy legal process that will be harder for them to dismiss as a political stunt.

Why did Garland name Weiss special counsel?

Weiss has been investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings for five years. Garland kept the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney on the job to insulate the probe from allegations of political influence by Biden appointees and promised him broad independence, but hadn’t designated him a special counsel. 

Garland said the special-counsel appointment came about because Weiss requested it, saying his investigation had reached a critical stage that required him to continue under that status. The attorney general declined to elaborate but said he agreed.

With Republicans already investigating allegations that the Biden administration was seeking to hinder or play down the probe, the attorney general had little choice but to grant Weiss’s request, his supporters said, given the damaging optics of turning him down. 

How did Republicans react to the special-counsel appointment? 

With harsh criticism, mostly. While many GOP lawmakers have sought the naming of a special prosecutor, they have soured on Weiss, partly because he long appeared willing to countenance what Sen.

GOP lawmakers have also expressed broader concerns that a special counsel could hinder their efforts to access Justice Department and FBI records. House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.), who has been spearheading the House probe into the younger Biden, criticized the appointment as an effort “to stonewall congressional oversight.”

Congress has no role in the management of criminal prosecutions, and Justice Department officials almost never provide details to lawmakers of open investigations.

On Aug. 14, a top Justice Department official told Republican lawmakers the agency would be limited in what it could tell them about the Hunter Biden plea deal regardless of the title of the official leading it.

The congressional inquiry centers on allegations of two criminal agents from the Internal Revenue Service who have told the Oversight Committee that political considerations appeared to infect investigative decisions at various stages in the probe. They say the younger Biden appeared to receive preferential treatment not afforded other investigative targets. Democrats have said the inquiry has uncovered scant new information and no evidence of crime. 

What could happen now?

Special-counsel status formalizes Weiss’s autonomy, gives him leeway to pursue charges outside Delaware and ensures that the president’s son will remain under scrutiny by the Justice Department. It also raises the likelihood of a politically explosive trial during the same campaign season in which the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, faces numerous prosecutions himself. 

The ongoing investigation also means Hunter Biden could face additional charges or that the misdemeanor tax charges to which he agreed to plead guilty could become felony counts for him to defend against at trial. Prosecutors have also disclosed that they are still investigating the younger Biden and said he could face additional charges, including over potential violations of a law that requires lobbyists for foreign governments or companies to register that work.

Write to Sadie Gurman at [email protected]