U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is handling Hunter Biden’s currently defunct plea deal, doesn’t seem too pleased. And why would she be?
On Wednesday, she was presented with an absolute circus after the DOJ tried to pass off an unprecedented agreement whereby Hunter Biden would receive near global immunity. Instead of putting that in the plea deal itself, it was buried in a pre-trial diversion agreement for a gun charge.
After pressing the two sides, it became clear that a wink-and-nod deal had been formulated whereby the immunity would stand, but wouldn’t be made public as part of the plea. In other words, the DOJ was ready to let Hunter Biden off the hook completely despite mounting evidence he violated FARA regulations. Things only blew up when Judge Noreika demanded answers, causing Hunter Biden’s lawyers to refuse a watered-down deal that would remove the broad immunity.
The night before all that transpired, Judge Noreika also accused Hunter Biden’s legal team of subterfuge after one of their lawyers called the clerk to get an amicus brief that included whistleblower testimony removed. Allegedly, the lawyer in question misrepresented herself, though Hunter Biden’s team claimed it was the clerk who made the mistake.
Now, in another escalation, Judge Noreika has banned Hunter Biden’s legal team from even contacting the clerk in question. She also strongly defended the employees of the clerk’s office in terms that aren’t exactly ambiguous.
The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s federal criminal case on Friday ordered attorneys to raise issues with her chambers, not the court clerk, after bizarre accusations of impersonation.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika earlier in the week threatened sanctions, accusing an employee at a law firm representing Biden of apparently misrepresenting their identity to the clerk’s office during a phone call.
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Noreika, a Trump appointee, ordered on Friday that “any issues or inquiries” in the case “shall be brought to my attention and not to the Clerk’s Office.”
“The Clerk’s Office for this Court is staffed by many hardworking and dedicated employees,” she wrote. “They are often the public face of this Court and must address many different, and often difficult, issues on any given day. Their jobs are not always easy, but they do these jobs well. They have earned my trust and my respect. I will not tolerate or countenance them being ill-used, disrespected or lied to.”
I don’t know how you read that, but it sure sounds like to me that the judge isn’t appreciative of Hunter Biden’s team trying to throw the clerk under the bus. The mention of trusting the clerk and the rest of the employees stands out as purposeful. Certainly, there’s nothing confusing about her saying she “will not tolerate or countenance them being ill-used, disrespected or lied to.”
Clearly, the judge doesn’t buy the story put forth by Hunter Biden’s lawyers. Will that affect her rulings going forward? Judge Noreika has already been toyed with by both sides in an underhanded attempt to mislead the court about the plea deal. She’s also had to deal with the above-mentioned ploy as welll. You’d think she wouldn’t be up for any more games.
Given that, things are going to be even more interesting going forward. Shouting “Trump judge!” isn’t going to save the DOJ or Hunter Biden. They have to deal with her, and she has every right to give them no quarter at this point. Will the two sides show back up with another sweetheart deal? If they do, it probably won’t turn out very well.