In a surprising move, Christopher J. Clark, one of Hunter Biden's lawyers, has moved to withdraw as counsel for Hunter Biden.
That filing came on Tuesday morning, and it points to what's coming next after the sweetheart plea deal originally agreed to fell apart under questioning but Judge Maryellen Noreika.
Here's the key line that points to the coming legal strategy by Hunter Biden's remaining lawyers.
His understanding of the scope of the immunity agreed to by the United States is also corroborated by prosecutors' contemporaneous notes and oral communications during plea negotiations.
In other words, the assertion is that the DOJ told Hunter Biden's team during plea negotiations that he would receive broad immunity and that both sides agreed with that understanding. As Judge Noreika later discovered, the arrangement existed within the diversion agreement for the gun charge the president's son was facing. After she then pressed the issue, asking for any precedent for putting immunity in a diversion agreement, the entire deal fell apart.
It wasn't until recently, though, that Hunter Biden's lawyers started to claim that the diversion agreement was still in full effect, citing the notion that every one necessary had already signed off on it. The DOJ is now disputing that while also stating that any promises made are irrelevant to what the plea deal ended up being.
I would tend to think the DOJ has the stronger argument here. I don't see where things said during negotiations would hold any legal weight compared to whatever the end product was that was formally filed. Still, it seems like Hunter Biden's team wants this fight, which might point to some embarrassing communications by the DOJ existing, possibly showing collusion to formulate the sweetheart deal the court was eventually presented with.
Are these tensions a sign that the cozy relationship between the DOJ and Hunter Biden is over? I'd love to think that's true, though my faith is lacking on that point. I'd need to see a lot more of what I'd consider normal aggression from the DOJ before I really believe the fix is no longer in. The proof will be in the pudding once the charges are presumably brought in Washington, D.C.
The chances Hunter Biden gets a favorable judge are far higher in that district, and if the DOJ immediately tries to force through another ridiculous plea deal, it'll be obvious what's going on. At this point, Hunter Biden needs to be made to go to trial. He's made a mockery of the justice system, and if he weren't the president's son, he'd already be in jail. This investigation has drug on long enough. David Weiss, the now-special counsel, has no excuse to not do everything he can to secure multiple convictions.