Attorneys for President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden argue their deal with federal prosecutors to resolve a felony gun charge is "valid and binding," though the view of a newly appointed special counsel isn't clear.
The Sunday court filing comes just two days after David Weiss, a U.S. attorney appointed by former President Donald Trump who is investigating the first son, was given special counsel status just weeks after a courtroom breakdown of plea talks to resolve tax and gun charges. Just moments after Attorney General Merrick Garland named him special counsel on Friday, Weiss's office wrote in court filings that his team and the defense were "at an impasse" on further plea negotiations.
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Hunter Biden's counsel and Weiss's office previously struck a plea agreement in which the first son would plead guilty to two federal tax misdemeanors and a diversion agreement in which prosecutors would drop a felony gun charge in two years if he passed drug tests and remained in good standing with the law.
The deal appeared to be solid between both parties when it was announced in late June, but it dramatically unwound in court last month under scrutiny from U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, and the resumed negotiations hit road bumps last week.
Chris Clark, an attorney for the younger Biden, argued in the three-page filing on Sunday that Weiss decided “on Friday to renege on the previously agreed-upon Plea Agreement,” referring to the tax deal, after negotiations fell apart earlier in the week.
From the perspective of Hunter Biden's counsel, they believe that the diversion agreement for the gun charge was fully "executed" when it was signed by both parties and presented to Noreika last month in Delaware. A copy of the deal that was previously posted to the docket was signed by Biden, Clark, and federal prosecutor Leo Wise. A line for the signature of a probation officer was left blank.
Clark wrote that his client “intends to abide by the terms of the Diversion Agreement that was executed at the July 26 hearing by the Defendant, his counsel, and the United States," adding that “the parties have a valid and binding bilateral Diversion Agreement.”
It is not clear whether Weiss's team agrees that the diversion agreement for the gun charge remains in effect. Noreika set a deadline for Tuesday at noon for prosecutors to respond to the defense's filing, according to a paperless order on Monday.
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Before the proposed plea deal came apart, the younger Biden tentatively agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges of failure to pay from 2017 and 2018. Court records show Biden was a resident of Washington, received a taxable income of more than $1.5 million, and owed more than $100,000 in taxes that he didn't pay on time.
The prosecutors signaled in their Friday filing that additional charges could be filed against the president’s son, noting that they plan to file in California and Washington, D.C., where the first son has lived.