Trump-appointed judge will oversee Hunter Biden case

A judge appointed by former President Trump who was confirmed with bipartisan support will preside over the case concerning Hunter Biden’s plea agreement. 

Court records show the case was assigned to Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote to her position in the District of Delaware in 2018. 

Biden agreed to plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay income tax and enter a diversion agreement on a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. The agreement will have him enter a pretrial diversion program that will likely have the charge removed from his record if he complies with the program’s terms. 

The deal between Biden and prosecutors needs to receive Noreika’s approval. It would likely keep him out of prison, instead resulting in a probation sentence. 

Republicans have mostly railed against the deal since it was publicly released Tuesday, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) leading the backlash among GOP lawmakers. 

McCarthy and others have argued that the deal shows a “two-tier” system of justice in the country, arguing that the Justice Department (DOJ) under the Biden administration is politically motivated to give the president’s son a “sweetheart” deal but prosecute Trump for the classified and sensitive documents found at his Mar-a-Lago property.

The president has maintained that the DOJ conducts its investigations independent of any influence by the White House, evidenced by him allowing David Weiss — a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney overseeing the Hunter Biden investigation — to stay on to continue the probe.