U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika dismissed a gun charge last week that was originally part of the Hunter Biden plea deal that collapsed in July.
According to The Associated Press, Noreika’s official removal of the gun-possession charge against Biden comes as the charge has been replaced with a three-count indictment against the president’s son.
Biden, age 53, has been charged for purchasing and possessing a revolver for roughly 11 days in 2018, when he was struggling with drug addiction. The three-count indictment against Biden stems from his violation of regulations against drug users possessing guns.
Biden pleaded “not guilty” to his federal gun charges at Wilmington federal courthouse earlier this month when he was arraigned for his three-count indictment. Biden’s lawyers have repeatedly claimed that the president’s son is not guilty of breaking the law and have pushed back against what they describe as a “partisan attack on our system of justice by right-wing Republicans.”
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Initially, Biden agreed to a plea deal that would have required him to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors in order to prevent him from potentially facing a prison sentence for a felony gun charge, according to court filings by the Department of Justice.
However, Biden’s plea deal with prosecutors collapsed in July after Noreika questioned a provision Biden and his lawyer demanded be included in the plea deal. According to Bloomberg, Biden refused to follow through with the plea deal unless the federal government agreed to end any further prosecution of the president’s son.
In the aftermath of the plea deal collapse, Noreika dismissed Biden’s misdemeanor tax charges in anticipation of Biden’s federal gun charge. The Associated Press reported that Special Counsel David Weiss has not filed any additional tax counts against Biden.
