But in July, Judge Noreika refused to approve a plea deal after raising questions about whether the agreement would preclude future federal prosecution under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of Hunter Biden’s alleged dealings with foreign business people.
“These agreements are not straightforward, and they contain some atypical provisions,” Judge Noreika said at the time.
The court and two sides agreed in July that tabling the plea agreement — since abandoned — would provide time for briefing on the judge’s concern that some terms could be unconstitutional and time to prepare a new plea deal acceptable to the court.
“It seems to me like you are saying ‘Just rubber-stamp the agreement.’ This seems to me to be form over substance,” the judge said.
Prosecutors told the court in August that parties had reached an “impasse” over the plea deal and began moving the case toward a trial.
The government later moved the tax charges to federal court in Los Angeles, where a federal grand jury indicted Hunter Biden in December on nine counts. Earlier this month, the court delayed Hunter Biden’s criminal tax trial in California, moving it from June 20 to September, to avoid conflicts with the gun trial in Wilmington.
