As RedState reported, the judge handling Hunter Biden’s plea agreement threw a wrench in the process on Wednesday morning after it became apparent that there were issues with the sweetheart deal.

That revelation came after a night of controversy when someone representing Hunter Biden’s legal team called the court to get an amicus brief removed from the docket. The clerk’s notes indicated some subterfuge was afoot, but after the judge demanded an explanation, Hunter Biden’s lawyers submitted a letter asserting it was a misunderstanding.

As the actual hearing began, the judge was immediately skeptical of what the DOJ and Hunter Biden’s team had worked out. Hunter Biden’s lawyers have proclaimed for weeks that their acceptance of the plea deal brings an end to the five-year investigation into the president’s son, forgoing any further charges. Meanwhile, the DOJ has said publicly that the investigation into Hunter Biden is ongoing.

That led the judge to question whether she would be providing global immunity by allowing the deal to go through. Once she pressed the prosecution, things fell apart.

NYTimes Reporter Glenn Thrush reporting from the courtroom: Hunter Biden’s lawyers repeatedly cast the deal as the final chapter of the five-year inquiry into the president's son. But Judge Noreika quickly punctured that assertion when she asked a prosecutor, Leo Wise, if the…

— Sol Wisenberg (@WisenbergSol) July 26, 2023

Again from NYT's Glenn Thrush reporting from the courtroom: "From the start, the judge seemed highly skeptical of the unusual deal — which offered Hunter Biden broad immunity from prosecution in perpetuity, questioning why it had been filed under a provision that gave her no…

— Sol Wisenberg (@WisenbergSol) July 26, 2023

Plea deals are normally structured to have the defendant plead guilty to certain crimes in exchange for not being charged with other crimes. What other crimes were in the plea deal as being taken off the table? We don’t know the answer to that, but the judge seemed completely unimpressed with what the two sides had brought her. Further, when asked by the judge if such a deal had any precedent, the prosecutor was forced to admit that there was none.

As mentioned by Glenn Thrush’s reporting above, the deal was attempting to give Hunter Biden broad immunity into perpetuity from future crimes. That led the judge to ask whether the investigation was still ongoing, at which point the DOJ admitted it was. That put the two sides at a technical impasse, and one the judge wasn’t willing to overlook.

Zooming out, it appears that Hunter Biden’s team was intent on getting it on the record that by signing the plea, all investigations into Hunter Biden (and by virtue, possible future charges related to them) would be ended. Meanwhile, the DOJ seemed happy to let that happen until the judge threw up a roadblock.

That begs the question of why the DOJ didn’t speak up to fix the inconsistency prior to the hearing if this was really just a misunderstanding. As I noted above, Hunter Biden’s lead lawyer stated publicly multiple times that the plea deal meant all other charges would be off the table. Why didn’t the DOJ immediately move to clarify that point in the plea deal if that wasn’t their intention?

One would be forgiven for suspecting corruption, especially given the protection from oversight that is provided by technically keeping the Hunter Biden investigation open. It appears that the DOJ wanted to let Hunter Biden off the hook while also keeping their wall up between them and Congress. Thankfully, the judge saw through the ploy.

The outcome of the Biden plea hearing is a cover story.

There is NO WAY that the two sides didn't discuss before today whether this was a "Global Plea" or not.

The idea that Hunter's team only learned today that other charges are still possible is idiotic.

One of two things…

— Shipwreckedcrew (@shipwreckedcrew) July 26, 2023

It is highly improper that the DOJ allowed things to get to this point, and I doubt very many onlookers will be giving the department the benefit of the doubt that it was all just a mistake. If the prosecutors involved, including David Weiss, were trying to give Hunter Biden global immunity via a wink and a nod while still keeping the investigation open, that’s scandalous and a clear attempt to try to manipulate the judge.