Someone finally told Hunter no

Maryellen Noreika put in 25 years at Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell in Wilmington, Delaware, specializing in patent law. The things that bore most people to tears are where the money is, aren’t they? The medium is the message, but the tedium is the jackpot.

She sought and received a nomination to the federal bench in 2017 from both Biden-approved Democrat senators in her state. Trump nominated her and she easily won a Republican-run Senate’s confirmation on a voice vote.

Judge Noreika did what was expected of her. In March, she tossed John Paul Mac Isaac’s defamation case against CNN, Politico, and Hunter Biden. Isaac was the computer repairman who had taken Hunter’s laptop to the FBI, which promptly refused to investigate.

So naturally when she got Hunter’s criminal case for failing to pay taxes on his bribes and a gun felony, people assumed the fix was in. The Biden administration offered a sweetheart plea deal with Hunter and the Biden-approved judge would simply rubber-stamp.

Yesterday, she didn’t. She said she needed more time to review the deal that we mere mortals would never dream of receiving if we failed to pay $100,000 a year in taxes.

It is a temporary setback, sure. The two sides will patch the holes in their agreement and resubmit it next month.

Nevertheless, Judge Noreika became the first person in Robert Hunter Biden’s life to tell him no. Since childhood, when he got in trouble, his father the senator (and later vice president and now president) would use his position to bail him out.

For example, Biden used his VP gig to get sonny in the Navy Reserves despite being too old. And when sonny was caught doing cocaine, he was allowed to resign his commission instead of going to jail.

But the judge is not playing that game — for now.

From Planet NYT, there was this New York Times report: “A deal for Hunter Biden to plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax charges while avoiding prosecution on a gun charge hit a last-minute snag, with the judge in the case unexpectedly putting off her decision.

“The federal judge overseeing the case, Maryellen Noreika, deferred her decision on approving the deal between Mr. Biden and federal prosecutors on Wednesday afternoon — the latest twist in a politically charged case that seemed to have been sewn up just hours earlier.”

So much for the press holding the powerful in Washington accountable.

AP’s spin made my head hurt. I seldom take aspirin. I was ready to swallow a bottle after reading this from AP: “The collapsed proceedings were a surprising development in the yearslong investigation, and a resolution that had been carefully negotiated over several weeks and included a lengthy back-and-forth between Justice Department prosecutors and Biden’s attorneys.

“The plea deal was meant to clear the air for Hunter Biden and avert a trial that would have generated weeks or months of distracting headlines. But the politics remain as messy as ever, with Republicans insisting he got a sweetheart deal and the Justice Department pressing ahead on investigations into Trump, the GOP’s 2024 presidential primary front-runner.”

So AP is whining about headlines distracting from its planned wall-to-wall coverage of Biden’s persecution of Trump.

The deal the Biden administration gave Hunter is off for now.

Politico reported, “After pressing both sides for details about the plea deal, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika adjourned the hearing so that the two sides could refine and clarify the agreement — under which Biden had planned to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax offenses and likely avoid punishment on a felony gun charge.

“At the end of the tumultuous three-hour hearing, Biden instead wound up pleading not guilty to all three charges, and the judge postponed further proceedings, likely for a month or more.

“The proposed deal between Biden and the Justice Department — the outline of which was announced last month — isn’t dead. But prosecutors and Biden’s lawyers will now have to satisfy Noreika’s concerns about technical aspects of the deal and her own role in enforcing a so-called pretrial diversion agreement, under which Biden would avoid prison time on the gun charge if he remains drug-free for two years and doesn’t break any other laws.

“If Noreika ultimately approves the deal, Biden will be able to withdraw the not guilty pleas he entered on Wednesday. He would then replace them with guilty pleas on the tax charges, and DOJ would defer prosecution on the gun charge.”

That cold water Politico threw should keep you cool this afternoon when it hits 90 outside. The deal is delayed, not dead. Still, it is refreshing to hear someone tell this coke-addled ne’er-do-well no.

And there is some hope that she may stick to her guns next month when the two sides — and technically there are two sides — work out a new agreement not to treat Hunter like the common criminal and agent for Ukraine and Red China.

ABC reported, “The three-hour hearing featured several turbulent interludes. Noreika’s line of questioning about the possible immunity agreement exposed fissures between the two parties, and the discussion culminated in prosecutors threatening to bring charges under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

“That prompted Chris Clark, an attorney for Biden, to say: ‘As far as I'm concerned, the plea agreement is null and void’ — stirring the courtroom into audible gasps.

“After a brief recess, the parties moved past those disagreements. Clark acquiesced to the government's position that any immunity of Hunter Biden would only include tax, firearm, and drug-related conduct investigated by the government.

“For the next 30 minutes, the parties fell into a pattern of negotiation, consulting in the middle of the courtroom with opposing counsel, retreating to their corners to discuss, and repeating.

“At one point, a visibly frazzled Clark approached prosecutors with arms stretched wide, threatening to ‘rip it up’ and looking to U.S. Attorney David Weiss, another Trump appointee. ‘Does anyone want to talk about this?’ Clark said.”

Answer: Yes, every single person who has been prosecuted for far less than bribery, tax evasion, and gun charges would love to talk to Clark, his client and his client’s daddy about this.

The judge made it possible to stop Hunter from escaping justice once again. And for that, I am grateful.