Hunter Biden's plea deal collapses, chaos ensues

While I watched Fox News's coverage, I was first amazed that the hearing didn't happen without a hitch. After an hour of coverage, it became obvious that history was getting made. Around noon CT. the Chiron flashed that Hunter had plead not guilty and that the plea deal had collapsed.

According to CBS's reporting, "A plea agreement between federal prosecutors and Hunter Biden fell apart Wednesday after the judge refused to sign off on a deal that would have seen the president's son enter guilty pleas to two misdemeanor tax charges and enter a diversion program in lieu of pleading guilty to a felony gun possession count. After the deal collapsed, Hunter Biden entered a not guilty plea."

The first major indication that things weren't going well was Fox reporting that Judge Maryellen Noreika told Hunter's defense team that she thought that the diversion program provision on the gun charge was unconstitutional. Another major indication that the deal was in jeopardy was that Judge Maryellen Noreika started questioning Hunter, specifically asking him about foreign income and the requirement to pay U.S. taxes on that income. Hunter replied yes to both questions, essentially admitting that he knew that he'd cheated on his taxes. I'm not a legal eagle but that sounds like he's approaching felony territory. Then there's this:

Soon after the hearing began, Noreika said she was confused by the deal's diversion agreement, which called for Biden to remain drug-free without committing additional crimes in order to see the gun charge dismissed.

While the defense lawyers and prosecutors wanted to keep that agreement separate from the tax matters, Noreika wanted to know if it was all part of a "package deal." Biden acknowledged that without the provisions of the diversion deal he would not be pleading guilty.

That isn't to say these were the only theatrics in the courtroom. Check this out:

After the deal appeared to break down, the prosecutors and defense attorneys took three separate breaks to huddle and discuss ways forward. Inside the courtroom, a frustrated Chris Clark at one point blurted out: "This was all negotiated!"

Chris, the key word there is "was." Judges all across the nation reject plea deals, although for different reasons. This deal felt like it was put together by 2 teams of Hunter defense attorneys. The U.S. judicial system is supposed to be an adversarial system. Throughout the process, David Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for Delaware, acted like he was the other defense attorney.

This is great reporting and great analysis:

Christopher Clark had a terrible day:

But Hunter Biden's attorney, Christopher Clark, called the deal "null and void" after a prosecutor told the judge that Hunter Biden isn't immune from future charges in the investigation, including potential counts under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

This is going to trial. This time, though, Democrats can't get away with saying there isn't any evidence against Hunter. Hunter's already admitted that there's evidence. Without that, why would you plead guilty? The next time, though, all eyes will be on the trial. Thinking that it won't get any media attention outside of Fox's reporting is kidding themselves.

Political Ramifications

Potentially, this might be the end of Joe Biden's political career. If he pardons son Hunter and brother Jim, I'm betting that Democrats will defend him in public while calling Gavin Newsom to jump in the race away from the cameras. This also scrambles the GOP nomination. It likely strengthens Trump in the short-term, though I think it helps someone younger if Newsom jumps in.

The Grassley Effect

I don't think you can underestimate the problems Chuck Grassley caused with his investigation and with his releasing the FD-1023. That form changed the terrain last week when the IRS whistleblowers testified. That day, you could see that Democrats were left defenseless.