DOJ rejects Hunter Biden’s plea offer, blasting first son’s request for ‘special terms:’ Report – Washington Examiner
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has rejected Hunter Biden’s plea offer regarding his criminal case in California. Biden proposed an unusual plea that would allow him to admit guilt for nine tax charges without conceding to the underlying accusations in his indictment. During a court session, prosecutor Leo Wise emphasized that Biden is not entitled to “special terms” in his plea agreement, stating, “Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty, and he’s not allowed to plead guilty on special terms that only apply to him.” Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, contested the characterization of the plea as special and argued that it should not be viewed as unique to Biden. The case continues to garner significant media attention.
DOJ rejects Hunter Biden’s plea offer, blasting first son’s request for ‘special terms:’ Report
Department of Justice prosecutors rejected Hunter Biden‘s offer on Thursday to enter an unusual plea in his criminal case in California that would involve the first son accepting guilt for the nine tax charges he is facing while avoiding admitting to the underlying allegations in his indictment.
Leo Wise, a prosecutor working on behalf of special counsel David Weiss, told Judge Mark Scarsi that Biden appeared to be asking for “special terms.”
“Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty, and he’s not allowed to plead guilty on special terms that only apply to him,” Wise said, according to a report from the courtroom.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell took issue with Wise saying an Alford plea would somehow be special only to Biden.
“I know it makes a headline,” Lowell tells Judge Scarsi, but “it’s just so wrong” that he had to start by addressing it.
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) September 5, 2024
The decision by the special counsel’s team to urge Scarsi to move the case to trial comes after Biden’s legal team surprised prosecutors Thursday morning by entering what is known as an “Alford plea” just before jury selection in the case was set to begin.
“This is the first we’ve heard of this,” Wise told the judge earlier in the day, according to NBC.
Scarsi proposed punting jury selection until Friday to allow the government to prepare a full argument against Biden’s Alford plea, which the judge has discretion over whether to accept.
This story is developing.
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