More than a month after Hunter Biden’s plea agreement collapsed under a judge’s scrutiny, the prosecution of the first son on tax and firearms charges appears to be at a standstill. This comes as three House committees have ramped up their investigations into alleged Biden family corruption, with Speaker McCarthy saying that an impeachment inquiry into President Biden — a move that would consolidate and further empower the probes — is the “natural step forward.”  

A federal judge at Delaware, Maryellen Noreika, has taken the unusual step of seeking information about United States attorney — and now special counsel — David Weiss’s investigation of Mr. Biden, including whether she has any role to play in the likely coming prosecution. 

“In view of the Speedy Trial Act, it is hereby ordered that, on or before Wednesday, September 6, 2023, the parties are directed to provide the Court with an update on the status of this case, including any steps that they believe the Court needs to take,” Judge Noreika wrote in a Thursday filing. 

She is the federal district court judge who declined to accept Mr. Biden’s plea deal — on tax and firearms offenses — during a chaotic July 26 hearing due to concerns about whether the first son was immune from any future charges. Mr. Biden’s attorneys believed he was granted blanket immunity, while prosecutors claimed that they could pursue criminal charges in the future if they found requisite evidence. 

On August 18, Judge Noreika dismissed all charges against Mr. Biden after the prosecution said, “the Government now believes that the case will not resolve short of a trial.”  

Mr. Weiss had sought this dismissal of the charges against Mr. Biden following an “impasse” with the defendant’s legal team, presumably for the purpose of refiling the tax and firearms charges in other jurisdictions so that his office could initiate a trial. He has yet to do so. Whether he and Mr. Biden’s attorneys are attempting to negotiate a new plea deal or if, as Mr. Weiss’s filing predicted, the case could be headed for trial is not public.

Mr. Biden had been set to plead guilty to two counts of “willful” misdemeanor tax evasion while also entering a “pretrial diversion agreement” for an illegal gun purchase while he was addicted to crack cocaine. According to the now-defunct plea agreement, which was made public on August 2, Mr. Biden would have avoided jail time and been placed on a two-year probation that would have required him to stay sober. The misdemeanor tax charges carry a maximum sentence of one year each, while the illegal gun purchase charge could have placed the first son in prison for a decade. 

Mr. Weiss — who was recently named special counsel in the case against Mr. Biden — has come under fire for negotiating what Mr. McCarthy and other Republicans have called a “sweetheart plea deal” that would have allowed Mr. Biden to avoid serious penalties beyond staying sober and paying his taxes. 

On August 28, three key committees in the House of Representatives launched an investigation into Mr. Weiss’s appointment as special counsel and his handling of the ongoing prosecution. The committees are also seeking information about whistleblower allegations that Mr. Weiss was denied the opportunity to file charges against Mr. Biden in federal courts at the District of Columbia and the Central District of California. Furthermore, they are seeking access to 5,400 emails in which President Biden is believed to have used pseudonyms during his time as vice president to conduct official government business as well as to correspond with his son.

The chairmen of the House committees on Oversight, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means — Congressmen James Comer, Jim Jordan, and Jason Smith — sent a letter to Attorney General Garland requesting information about Mr. Weiss and his prosecution. The three have been working in tandem to investigate Mr. Biden and his foreign business dealings and are likely to serve as the trio of chief investigators in a possible impeachment inquiry in the coming months.  

“On August 11, 2023, after the Department’s apparently unprecedented plea deal with Mr. Biden fell apart under scrutiny from a federal judge, you appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss as Special Counsel over this matter,” the letter states. “Your appointment raises numerous concerns considering earlier statements from you and Mr. Weiss that Mr. Weiss already had ‘ultimate’ authority—free of any political pressure—to pursue the investigation where, when, and how he sought fit.”

“Now, recently reported information raises additional concerns about the Department’s unusual actions in this matter, and suggests that the Department under your leadership has been attempting to circumvent the rule of law in favor of Hunter Biden, President Biden, and the Biden family,” it continues.

This comes as Republicans prepare for a likely impeachment inquiry levied against the president. Accusations that Mr. Biden received “preferential treatment” from his father’s Department of Justice lie at the heart of the probe into Mr. Garland and his agency, and these accusations could be key to the GOP’s argument that President Biden ought to be removed from office.