Federal Judge in Delaware has dismissed the misdemeanor tax charges against Hunter Biden, a development that was anticipated after his initial plea agreement collapsed last month during his first court appearance.
The Justice Department had submitted a document last week seeking to dismiss the case, in anticipation of a potential trial on Biden's felony gun charge in a separate District.
Following the breakdown of the plea deal, Biden entered a plea of "not guilty," while federal prosecutors confirmed the continuation of his federal investigation. The original plea deal would have seen Biden pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of deliberate failure to pay federal income tax, thereby avoiding imprisonment on the felony gun charge.
The legal representatives of Biden and Special Counsel David Weiss are still in disagreement over a diversion agreement related to the felony charge, which could potentially spare Biden from any jail time. Weiss has hinted at the possibility of taking Biden to trial in the future, either in Washington, D.C. or California.
Weiss vehemently dismissed allegations from Biden's legal team on Tuesday that his office had backtracked on the plea deal intended to resolve the federal tax and gun charges against the President's son, emphasizing that the agreement was "not in effect."
In a court document, Weiss responded to the Biden attorneys who had filed a motion over the weekend, asserting that "the parties have a valid and binding bilateral Diversion Agreement."
Weiss further stated that Biden "chose to plead not guilty at the hearing on July 26, 2023, and U.S. Probation declined to approve the proposed diversion agreement at that hearing. Thus, neither proposed agreement entered into effect."
Weiss also noted that Biden "rejected these counterproposals on August 7, 2023."
He added, "Seeing that the parties were at an impasse, the Government informed the Defendant, in writing on August 9, 2023, that it was withdrawing the most recent version of its proposed plea and diversion agreements." Weiss explained in the filing, "That is why the Government has asked the Court to vacate its briefing order and has moved to dismiss the criminal tax information."
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