Following the collapse of Hunter Biden’s plea deal, Christopher Clark, the lead attorney representing Hunter, formally requested approval from the Delaware judge who is presiding over the case to step down from his role. Clark cited the possibility of being summoned as a witness at a later time as the reason for his request.
Clark has been representing Joe Biden’s embattled son, who has been in the midst of a five-year investigation for crimes related to millions of dollars he received from foreign companies looking for influence with his father during his tenure as vice president. An earlier plea agreement collapsed when Judge Maryellen Norieka raised concerns about whether the terms encompassed offenses related to Hunter’s failure to register as a foreign agent, a violation he committed while lobbying for those companies. Representatives for U.S. Attorney David Weiss told the judge that part of their office’s investigation would not be included, leading both sides to back out of the deal.
CNN reported:
Hunter Biden’s lead criminal defense attorney asked a federal judge on Tuesday for permission to withdraw from the case because he could now be called as a witness in future proceedings.
Christopher Clark, Biden’s longtime defense lawyer, filed a motion with the Delaware judge who has overseen the case since a plea deal was announced in June.
“Based on recent developments, it appears that the negotiation and drafting of the plea agreement and diversion agreement will be contested, and Mr. Clark is a percipient witness to those issues,” Biden’s lawyers said in the filing.
Last Friday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that U.S. Attorney for the district of Delaware David Weiss had been appointed as special counsel for the investigation into Hunter Biden crimes.
Weiss sought the status of special counsel after Hunter Biden’s plea deal collapsed.
Following the announcement of Weiss’s special counsel status, federal prosecutors affirmed that negotiations for Hunter Biden’s plea deal had reached an impasse and stated through a court filing that the case was now on course for a trial.
Prosecutors have indicated that the appropriate jurisdiction for Hunter Biden’s tax-related charges would be either California or Washington, DC, rather than Delaware.
“Venue for these offenses does not lie in Delaware. Rather, venue for these offenses and any other related tax offenses lies either in the Central District of California or in the District of Columbia. The information was filed in this District because the parties had previously agreed that the Defendant would waive any challenge to venue and plead guilty in this District. However, during the July 26, 2023, hearing that the Court set on this matter, the Defendant pled not guilty. Since that time, the parties have engaged in further plea negotiations but are at an impasse. The Government now believes that the case will not resolve short of a trial,” the filing said.
“Now that the parties are at an impasse, a trial is in order,” they wrote. “Venue must be proper for each count of an indictment.”
