Hunter Biden has been ordered to supply a court update by Sept. 6 on a felony gun charges against him.
The order, from the federal judge in Delaware presiding over his case, requires both Biden and prosecutors to explain the status of the gun case against the president’s son now that the plea deal between them has broken down.
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U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika issued the paperless order Thursday and said it should include “any steps that they believe the Court needs to take.”
Defense attorneys have claimed a “diversion agreement” shielding President Joe Biden’s son from prosecution on the gun charge is still in place. This is despite it being linked to a plea deal on tax offenses which collapsed during a July hearing.
Prosecutors with Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss‘s office say an immunity provisions shielding the younger Biden never took effect and he is still liable to further prosecutions.
“These agreements are not straightforward and they contain some atypical provisions,” Noreika told both parties on July 26.
The deal on the gun and tax charges was intended to conclude a five-year investigation overseen by Weiss. But Biden’s first appearance before Noreika last month saw the judge raise questions about the terms, and prosecutors were not able to quell her concerns about offering Biden immunity for certain crimes as part of a diversion agreement, rather than the plea deal.
After the plea deal fell apart, Attorney General Merrick Garland named Weiss as special counsel, which gives him wide authority to investigate and report his findings on the president’s son.
Prior to his first appearance last month, Republicans in Congress alleged the first son was bestowed a “sweetheart deal” by prosecutors.
The deal would have sentenced Biden to probation in exchange for pleading guilty to failing to pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018.
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Biden’s income during those years amounted to roughly $4 million in business consulting fees from a company he created with the CEO of a Chinese business giant and from his work on the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
The Washington Examiner contacted U.S. attorneys in Delaware and Biden’s counsel.
