Hunter Biden Plea Deal Falls Apart in Court

Hunter Biden's plea deal to plead guilty to federal tax crimes fell apart in court on Wednesday, after the judge raised concerns about the constitutionality of the deal and the potential for Hunter Biden to face additional charges.

The judge, Maryellen Noreika, said that she could not accept the plea deal because she was not convinced that it would protect Hunter Biden from facing additional charges for illegal foreign lobbying. The Justice Department had said that the plea deal did not protect Hunter Biden from facing additional charges, but Hunter Biden's lawyers had argued that it did.

The judge also said that she had concerns about the constitutionality of the deal because it would have required her to approve the gun deal, but would not have given her any power to approve or reject the tax deal.

The judge asked both parties to file additional legal briefs defending the constitutionality of the plea deal. The parties have 30 days to file these briefs.

It is not clear what will happen next. The judge could schedule another hearing, for oral arguments, to further flesh out the complex constitutional questions at hand. She could issue a written ruling accepting their explanations and agreeing to move forward with the guilty plea.

How she wants to move forward will be up to her.

The unravelling of the agreement in court further opens the door for Republicans who were already asking questions about the investigation. GOP lawmakers were sharply critical of the Justice Department's deal and jumped on the new developments in hopes it would bolster their probe into the president.

The collapse of the plea deal also adds a new layer of intrigue around the potential trip to Capitol Hill by Delaware's Trump-appointed US Attorney David Weiss, who is overseeing the 5-year-old Hunter Biden investigation.

GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio credited IRS whistleblowers critical of the investigation for the collapse of a plea deal, although the issue did not come up during a hearing.

Weiss has told Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, he would testify publicly before the committee in the coming weeks to answer questions about the ongoing criminal probe, though Wednesday's developments could delay things.

The judge's decision is a major setback for the Justice Department, which had been hoping to bring the investigation to a close with a guilty plea from Hunter Biden. The collapse of the plea deal also means that the investigation could drag on for months or even years.

The unraveling of the plea deal is also a major victory for Hunter Biden's legal team, which had been arguing that the deal was unfair and did not protect their client from facing additional charges.

The collapse of the plea deal is a major development in the Hunter Biden investigation, and it remains to be seen how the Justice Department will proceed.