Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday about Hunter Biden’s derailed plea deal, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika raised an issue the White House “most fears.”
As Axios reported, the contentious hearing included two recesses, one of which came after the judge questioned “whether the diversionary agreement shielded Hunter Biden from future prosecution under other laws including the Foreign Agent Registration Act.”
[Justice Department prosecutor Leo] Wise also told the court that there is an "ongoing investigation." Asked for more information by Noreika, Wise said he was "not in a position where I can say."
Biden's legal team was shocked when Wise told the court that prosecutors believed they still could charge Biden with FARA violations.
Clark said that was not his understanding, to which Wise replied: "then there's no deal." (Axios)
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— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) July 26, 2023
Today, the Department of Justice revealed Hunter Biden is under investigation for being a foreign agent.
According to Turley, the possibility that Hunter Biden could face this charge is highly problematic. When asked why the proceedings got to the point they did, he explained further:
I think part of the problem is they really did want to cap out the case. The Department of Justice wanted to cap this investigation. But they didn't want to say that it was now over. From the very beginning, the Hunter Biden team said this is a close-out plea agreement. There would be nothing left to investigate. But the Department of Justice is telling Congress we're not going to give you these witnesses or these documents because there's an ongoing investigation. You can't do both things when a judge is asking you to specifically address whether this is a close-out or a continuing investigation...
This is a big problem. This was all supposed to be scripted. It was all supposed to be easy. And now it is off script and it is anything but easy. Because the judge just raised the one charge that the White House most fears which is the chance that Hunter was a foreign agent. And if he was a foreign agent, the question is foreign agent for who and for what purpose? The president was that purpose. If you're influence peddling, it's influence over the president. So if you go for FARA, it's going to bring all of this stuff in. Including some of these tax accounts for 2014 and 15 that the Department of Justice allowed to run, allowed the statute of limitations to expire.
All of that can get boot strapped into a FARA issue. The whole purpose of this deal is collapsing as we're watching it. And it's taken Washington by utter surprise. I was on the Hill talking with members and everyone was floored. (Transcript via RCP)
Turley: Hunter Biden’s Judge Raised the Question the W.H. Most Fears, Was He A Foreign Agent and For What Purpose? pic.twitter.com/RxZnpHuDWr
— Alexandra Datig | Front Page Index 🇺🇸 (@alexdatig) July 27, 2023
Turley said the question now is what happens next.
"It's like a wedding where both the bride and groom objected and everyone else is sitting there saying wait, how did we get here and where do we go from here?"
