The special counsel overseeing the federal investigation into Hunter Biden is seeking a new grand jury indictment, according to a recent court filing.
David Weiss, who was named special counsel in August, filed a status report required by Judge Maryellen Noreika in which he cited September 29 as the deadline for submitting the indictment, according to BBC News. The planned indictment is reportedly related to a felony gun charge pertaining to Hunter Biden’s alleged possession of a firearm while he was an active drug user.
The statute of limitations on the gun charge runs out next month, the New York Post reported.
Attorneys from Biden’s team have pushed back against the news, claiming a previous agreement with prosecutors prevents additional charges from being filed in the case.
Abbe Lowell, one of Biden’s attorneys, said on Wednesday that the original agreement “remains valid and prevents any additional charges from being filed against Mr. Biden, who has been abiding by the conditions of release under that agreement for the last several weeks, including regular visits by the probation office.”
“We expect a fair resolution of the sprawling, 5-year investigation into Mr. Biden that was based on the evidence and the law, not outside political pressure, and we’ll do what is necessary on behalf of Mr. Biden to achieve that,” added Lowell, per NBC News.
The door was opened for the new indictment after Judge Noreika struck down a previous plea deal reached by Weiss and Biden’s attorneys concerning gun and tax evasion charges.
The deal would have required Biden to plead guilty to not paying taxes on over $1 million of income between 2017 and 2018. If the deal were allowed to go through, he would not have served jail time for either charge, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Some politicos pushed back on the deal at the time. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said, “It continues to show the two-tier system in America.”
“If you are the president’s leading political opponent, the [Department of Justice] tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time. But if you are the president’s son, you get a sweetheart deal,” added McCarthy, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Noreika also expressed concerns that the deal would simply provide Biden with blanket immunity for any other allegations, leading her to strike down the agreement.
After the plea deal fell through, Biden proceeded to plead not guilty to the tax charges.