First son likely to stand trial after talks collapse

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors in Delaware said Friday that discussions with first son Hunter Biden’s lawyers about resurrecting a probation-only plea bargain for tax and gun charges are at an “impasse” and that there’s likely to be a trial in the case in either Washington, DC, or Southern California.

The court filings coincided with Attorney General Merrick Garland announcing that he is appointing Delaware US Attorney David Weiss to serve as special counsel in the case, meaning he will have additional investigative powers and the ability to bring charges outside of his jurisdiction.

Hunter, 53, agreed in June to plead guilty to two tax-crime misdemeanors and to a gun-charge felony that would be expunged after two years of probation.

But the plea deal dramatically collapsed during a July 26 court hearing.

At that hearing, questioning by federal judge Maryellen Noreika revealed stark differences in what prosecutors and the defense were saying about whether the deal immunized Hunter from other potential crimes, such as allegedly violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Although Assistant US Attorney Leo Wise told the judge that Hunter could still be prosecuted for other crimes, a secret agreement buried in a non-public diversion agreement appeared to grant Hunter broad immunity.

Wise signed a filing Friday asking Noreika to dismiss pending charges against Hunter Biden “so that the United States can bring tax charges in a district where venue lies.”

“Since [the court hearing], the parties have engaged in further plea negotiations but are at an impasse,” Wise wrote.

“The Government now believes that the case will not resolve short of a trial.”

US attorneys appointed by President Biden in Los Angeles and the nation’s capital blocked Weiss from bringing tax fraud charges against Hunter for up to $2.2 million in nonpayment on $8.3 million in foreign income earned from 2014 to 2019, IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler allege.

At least some statutes of limitation expired due to the resistance of Biden’s appointees to charging his son, added the whistleblowers, who worked on the Hunter Biden case for three years and five years, respectively.

Shapley and Ziegler said prosecutors in Weiss’ office prevented them from investigating Joe Biden’s role in his son Hunter and brother James’ international dealings, despite communications appearing to directly implicate the president.

Weiss’ elevation to special counsel will allow him to bring charges without the approval of Biden appointees — something Garland had claimed in the past he already could do.

Follow The Post’s latest coverage on the Hunter Biden probe

House Republicans moving closer to impeaching Joe Biden for his links to his son’s businesses immediately expressed distrust in Weiss’ elevation.

Weiss’ critics have noted that he signed off on the initial plea deal, which prosecutors admitted to Judge Noreika was unprecedented, and was appointed by former President Donald Trump on the recommendation of Delaware’s two Democratic senators — who are close Biden allies.

The prosecutor has also given the impression in a series of vague public statements that he denies the claims of the IRS whistleblowers.