Prosecutors Are Breaking Deal, Hunter Biden Tells Judge

Federal prosecutors are trying to back out of a critical provision in his plea deal with them, Hunter Biden told a court. The agreement appeared to fall apart when a judge declined to approve it last month. In a filing Friday, prosecutors said that there is no deal anymore and that the two sides are at a standoff, the New York Times reports. Biden disputed that in a filing Sunday, saying he intends to stick to the plea agreement he signed in court. The other significant change is that a special counsel, David Weiss, has been appointed to the case by the Justice Department.

The sticking point involves Biden receiving immunity in exchange for entering a diversion program for gun offenders, leaving him to plead guilty only to tax charges. A lawyer for Biden wrote in the brief that prosecutors decided to "renege on the previously agreed-upon plea agreement," which it said prosecutors signed and remains binding. The lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation that prosecutors "changed their decision on the fly" during the court hearing, per the Hill. US District Judge Maryellen Noreika gave Weiss until noon Tuesday to answer Biden's filing. (More Hunter Biden stories.)