Trump-appointed judge selected to oversee Hunter Biden case

WASHINGTON

Federal district Judge Maryellen Noreika has been selected to preside over the case brought by federal prosecutors against Hunter Biden, US President Joe Biden's son, court records showed Wednesday.

Noreika is an appointee of former President Donald Trump. She was appointed to Delaware District Court in August 2018 following a voice vote in the Senate.

She will now preside over the case against Trump's successor’s son and will decide whether to accept the terms of a plea deal Hunter Biden struck with federal prosecutors on tax evasion and gun charges.

Biden agreed to plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax and another count of illegal possession of a firearm by a drug user, US Attorney for Delaware David Weiss wrote in a letter to the district court clerk on Tuesday.

The tax charges are misdemeanors, and Weiss wrote that Biden agreed to certain unspecified conditions with respect to the felony firearms charge. Details of the plea agreement were not immediately known.

The gun charge is related to Biden's possession of a Colt Cobra .38-caliber revolver in October 2018, Weiss said in a separate court document. The gun was shipped and transported between states, he alleged.

Republicans pounced on news of the agreement, with Trump, who is himself set to go on trial on 37 federal charges in August, saying the deal "cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving Hunter Biden a mere 'traffic ticket.'”

Hunter Biden has a long history of drug abuse and publicly acknowledged his struggle with addiction on multiple occasions during his path to recovery.

Weiss, the prosecutor leading the case, is also an appointee of Trump.

The firearms charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.