On Wednesday, President Biden's son Hunter Biden headed to a courtroom not far from where he grew up. He expected to plead guilty to failure to pay taxes and accept a complicated "diversion agreement" with prosecutors in which he admitted — but didn't have to plead guilty to — illegally possessing a gun. He had reached a tentative plea agreement in June to keep the gun charge off his record and avoid jail time, provided that he met conditions over a two-year period including staying drug-free and not buying a firearm. But the agreement fell apart in court, for two reasons: The plea deal initially did not protect Hunter Biden from prosecution for other potential charges in connection with a long-running government investigation of his business dealings. When the federal judge asked him whether he would plead guilty knowing he could still face additional charges, he said no. Prosecutors in the courtroom maintained this was part of the agreement all along. "Then we misunderstood. We're ripping it up," Biden lawyer Chris Clark snapped at them, The Washington Post reports. The two sides then quickly reworked the deal to include immunity for certain tax, drug and gun charges between 2014 to 2019, essentially the main time period covered by the investigation. The judge then raised constitutional questions. She noted that the immunity provisions were tucked into the agreement involving the gun charge, which she does not actually have to approve. That's because diversion agreements are forged between prosecutors and defense attorneys. Plea agreements, on the other hand, must be approved by a judge. But the diversion agreement includes language saying the judge could revive the gun charge if Hunter Biden violated the terms of the agreement. The judge said she did not think she has the power to do so. So what happens next? The judge told the two sides to work on how the deal was structured and resubmit it when it can pass constitutional muster. In the meantime, Hunter Biden had to enter a plea one way or another. With no plea agreement in place, he pleaded not guilty. If his lawyers and the prosecutors can't figure out a way to resurrect the plea deal, he could eventually face a criminal trial on the tax charges. He could also theoretically be charged with illegally purchasing a firearm. How the Hunter Biden investigation got started Since his father was vice president, Hunter Biden has appeared to trade on his father's name to do business deals in countries where his father was working. The Justice Department started investigating Hunter Biden's foreign business deals while Donald Trump was in the White House. Hunter Biden leaves the courthouse Wednesday in Delaware. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) | Mitch McConnell freezes mid-sentence In a regular press briefing Wednesday, the Senate Republican leader suddenly froze mid-sentence. His Republican colleagues asked him whether he was all right, then escorted him away from the lectern. He later came back to say he was "fine" and could continue to do his job. An aide told my colleagues at The Post that the senator felt lightheaded. McConnell is 81, and he had recently been recovering from falling and suffering a concussion and broken rib at a dinner in March. What Congress learned about UFOs today The scene Wednesday at a House Oversight Committee hearing on "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena." (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) | UFOs are real, they are fairly common sightings in the military and among commercial pilots, and the government might have in its possession an alien aircraft or maybe even its pilots. That's what three military veterans testified in a congressional hearing Wednesday about UFOs — or what the government likes to call unidentified aerial phenomenon, or UAPs. Among the veterans who testified, no one claimed firsthand knowledge of actual alien spaceships or pilots in the government's possession. But they said all of this is concerning for national security and flight safety (like, what if this is alien technology and another country figured out how to harness it?). And they added there's still a major stigma about reporting sightings. That's all we know — but Republicans and Democrats want the military to share more about what it knows, potentially with the public. "We're going to uncover the coverup, and I hope this is just the beginning of many more hearings," said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.). Watch more here. |
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