Hunter Biden’s attorneys assert that the agreement to settle the felony gun charge was legally binding.

Deal Between Hunter Biden and U.S. Attorney Survives Plea Agreement Collapse

One aspect of a deal struck between ‌ Hunter Biden ⁢and Delaware’s U.S. Attorney David Weiss survived the collapse of their plea agreement, ​Biden’s legal ​team‍ claimed over the weekend.

In a filing on Sunday, defense attorneys⁢ said the decision by the ​federal government to “renege” on the plea agreement for two misdemeanor tax evasion charges did not do away with a⁣ pretrial ‌diversion agreement on a felony firearm offense in which prosecutors would drop​ the ‍case if Biden ⁢—⁣ who is the president’s son — met certain conditions.

Biden “intends to abide by the terms of the Diversion Agreement that was executed at the July 26 hearing by the Defendant, his counsel, and ⁤the United States,” the lawyers wrote.

At the hearing late last month, ​U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika raised ​concerns about a provision that might have granted Biden ‌sweeping immunity from prosecution in the future. The felony gun charge was legally binding.”>federal judge tasked both⁤ sides with reworking their arrangement.

Attorney General Merrick⁢ Garland announced on Friday that Weiss⁢ had been appointed special counsel in ‌the ​investigation of Biden, a designation that gives‌ the prosecutor broader authority to ‌bring charges in districts outside of his own.

On that same day, Weiss said⁤ in a motion that the two sides were at an “impasse” and asked the court to vacate a briefing order “since there is no longer a plea agreement or diversion agreement for the Court to ‌consider.”

Biden, 53, pleaded not guilty to the⁢ tax charges in Delaware,⁣ but Weiss made a separate filing on Friday seeking‍ to⁢ dismiss the information and indicating that he intended to take the⁤ tax case to trial in the ‍Central District of California or in‍ the District of Columbia — venues for the alleged offenses⁣ — because plea negotiations had hit a roadblock.

One of Biden’s lawyers, Abbe Lowell, said on CBS News’s ​“Face the Nation” on ​Sunday that a trial was “not inevitable.”

As for the⁤ felony gun charge, with⁤ which Biden was accused‌ of knowingly possessing a firearm while​ being an “unlawful” drug user in ​2018,⁣ his lawyers insisted in their Sunday filing they “have a valid and binding bilateral ‍Diversion Agreement.”

Biden’s “understanding of the scope of immunity agreed to by the United States was and is based on the express written terms of ⁢the Diversion Agreement,” the lawyers added. “His understanding of the scope ⁣of⁣ immunity agreed to by​ the United States is also corroborated by prosecutors’ contemporaneous⁤ written and oral communications during the plea negotiations.”

In an ⁢order on Monday, the judge instructed Weiss to file a response to⁣ Biden’s lawyers by ‌noon on Tuesday.

If Biden is found guilty of the felony gun charge, the Department of​ Justice said the maximum penalty is ten years in prison. Each of ​the misdemeanor charges for an alleged failure to pay taxes on ⁣income ​in ‍2017 and 2018 brings a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison.