Philosopher Stephen Turner posts on Facebook five days ago:
Here is a plausible inside version of what happened: Based on conversations with people who were in the courtroom today, and my experience as a former federal prosecutor, I think I know the full story of what happened with the Hunter Biden plea agreement blow-up this morning.
Bear with me, because this is a little complicated:
Typically, if the Government is offering to a defendant that it will either drop charges or decline to bring new charges in return for the defendant’s guilty plea, the plea is structured under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(A). An agreement not to prosecute Hunter for FARA violations or other crimes in return for his pleading guilty to the tax misdemeanors, for example, would usually be a (c)(1)(A) plea. This is open, transparent, subject to judicial approval, etc.
In Hunter’s case, according to what folks in the courtroom have told me, Hunter’s plea was structured under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(B), which is usually just a plea in return for a joint sentencing recommendation only, and contained no information on its face about other potential charges, and contained no clear agreement by DOJ to forego prosecution of other charges.
Instead, DOJ and Hunter’s lawyers effectively hid that part of the agreement in what was publicly described as a pretrial diversion agreement relating to a § 922(g)(3) gun charge against Hunter for being a drug user in possession of a firearm.
That pretrial diversion agreement as written was actually MUCH broader than just the gun charge. If Hunter were to complete probation, the pretrial diversion agreement prevented DOJ from ever bringing charges against Hunter for any crimes relating to the offense conduct discussed in the plea agreement, which was purposely written to include his foreign influence peddling operations in China and elsewhere.
So they put the facts in the plea agreement, but put their non-prosecution agreement in the pretrial diversion agreement, effectively hiding the full scope of what DOJ was offering and Hunter was obtaining through these proceedings. Hunter’s upside from this deal was vast immunity from further prosecution if he finished a couple years of probation, and the public wouldn’t be any the wiser because none of this was clearly stated on the face of the plea agreement, as would normally be the case.
Judge Noreika smelled a rat. She understood that the lawyers were trying to paint her into a corner and hide the ball. Instead, she backed DOJ and Hunter’s lawyers into a corner by pulling all the details out into the open and then indicating that she wasn’t going to approve a deal as broad as what she had discovered.
DOJ, attempting to save face and save its case, then stated on the record that the investigation into Hunter was ongoing and that Hunter remained susceptible to prosecution under FARA. Hunter’s lawyers exploded. They clearly believed that FARA was covered under the deal, because as written, the pretrial diversion agreement language was broad enough to cover it. They blew up the deal, Hunter pled not guilty, and that’s the current state of play.
And so here we are. Hunter’s lawyers and DOJ are going to go off and try to pull together a new set of agreements, likely narrower, to satisfy Judge Noreika. Fortunately, I doubt if FARA or any charges related to Hunter’s foreign influence peddling will be included, which leaves open the possibility of further investigations leading to further prosecutions.
* It has everything to do with his father. Otherwise he would be on skid row. But who cares? These are known crooks. We elected them.
* Aside from massive inflation, which has destroyed the life chances of young people and everyone else, what has he accomplished? Failure in Afghanistan and Ukraine. But he did get rich. And the evidence of payoffs is clear, and not based on fairytale legal theories.
* People are working for nothing because of fear and inflation. The gun laws are pro-crime– they don’t affect criminals and murders have exploded.. Debt relief for students was a gift to the rich at the expense of ordinary people. Infrastructure was a scam. Inflation followed that hurt the most vulnerable. No, I don’t see the good. I do see plenty of damage in the lives of the people I know, who are just ordinary people trying to survive in this horrible situation created by him.
* The bad stuff started with Biden’s policies and a congress concerned to spend. What else causes inflation? Loose monetary policy. The Fed did that too. Oh, and catering to the financial elite, which makes money on both these things at the expense of ordinary people. But inequality is just fine if it favors them.
* So Hunter pleads not guilty because the prosecutors refuse to go through with the deal because they don’t want to testify before congress about the deal and want to keep up the charade that the case is ongoing and therefore they can refuse to testify. This is pure banana republic. And he will get a pardon. So why bother?
