The article is poorly written, so I can't tell if the deal is officially dead. What I know for sure is that the judge refused to simply rubber stamp it, and gave both sides 30 days to explain why she should accept the deal. What I'm unable to discern is if the whole thing fell apart after the hearing. Either way it's bad news for Hunter the Crackhead.
My understanding is that the defense thought the plea deal included immunity for all potential active and future investigations that uncover more crimes. When the DOJ said, "nah", the defense balked.
Not sure why he'd need future immunity though, since he's obviously the safest, most effective, most peaceful, and most innocent first son in the history of first sons.
immunity for all potential active and future investigations that uncover more crimes
If they were doing things by the book this wouldn't be an issue. Typically a plea deal involves the defendant fessing up to all the crimes they committed. Only then is a deal cut that decides which crimes to charge and the potential sentence. That's where Michael Cohen ran into issues. He was all too happy to fess up to his crimes when he thought could be used to go after Trump, but he wanted to keep the rest of his sleazy dealings under wraps.
I assume a part of this process includes that fessing to the crimes can't be used against you later (like if the plea bargain fails)? Because otherwise, that seems like a shitty process. They can just get you to say what you're guilty of, renege on the negotiation, and then use the confession as evidence.
In theory they can do that but then the whole federal plea system would fall apart. Now the thing is the confessing to all crimes and getting immunity is really for someone giving states evidence, not a one off charge. This is a one off charge you don't get protection for all the things they don't know about or might come down the pipe yet.
Look at it this way. Say you're a mafia member and get caught doing X crime. You don't want to do the time. You tell the feds that you want to cooperate they're going to ask you to tell them everything you've done(that way they have leverage over you to make sure you cooperate). And then if they're going to use you as a CI you have to let them know every crime you're going to be involved in.
Now let's look at a one off situation. Say you get caught passing a fake check. You're looking at ten years but the feds say they'll give you 1 if you just take the plea. This is a one off plea deal. If they then find out you passed 9 more fake checks they can arrest you for those 9 and depending on the conditions of the plea and time that elapsed, that one year deal may now be voided. So it could be in your best interest to cop to the extra checks and show you're cooperating even if it means you might get another year or two because it could work out better for you.
Basically, everyone wants to do a plea deal because it is easier for everyone involved.
What it seems like here is Hunter wants to have his cake and eat it too. He knows there's other shit that coming down but is trying to get a pass without telling them anything.
The article is poorly written, so I can't tell if the deal is officially dead. What I know for sure is that the judge refused to simply rubber stamp it, and gave both sides 30 days to explain why she should accept the deal. What I'm unable to discern is if the whole thing fell apart after the hearing. Either way it's bad news for Hunter the Crackhead.
My understanding is that the defense thought the plea deal included immunity for all potential active and future investigations that uncover more crimes. When the DOJ said, "nah", the defense balked.
Not sure why he'd need future immunity though, since he's obviously the safest, most effective, most peaceful, and most innocent first son in the history of first sons.
If they were doing things by the book this wouldn't be an issue. Typically a plea deal involves the defendant fessing up to all the crimes they committed. Only then is a deal cut that decides which crimes to charge and the potential sentence. That's where Michael Cohen ran into issues. He was all too happy to fess up to his crimes when he thought could be used to go after Trump, but he wanted to keep the rest of his sleazy dealings under wraps.
I assume a part of this process includes that fessing to the crimes can't be used against you later (like if the plea bargain fails)? Because otherwise, that seems like a shitty process. They can just get you to say what you're guilty of, renege on the negotiation, and then use the confession as evidence.
In theory they can do that but then the whole federal plea system would fall apart. Now the thing is the confessing to all crimes and getting immunity is really for someone giving states evidence, not a one off charge. This is a one off charge you don't get protection for all the things they don't know about or might come down the pipe yet.
Look at it this way. Say you're a mafia member and get caught doing X crime. You don't want to do the time. You tell the feds that you want to cooperate they're going to ask you to tell them everything you've done(that way they have leverage over you to make sure you cooperate). And then if they're going to use you as a CI you have to let them know every crime you're going to be involved in.
Now let's look at a one off situation. Say you get caught passing a fake check. You're looking at ten years but the feds say they'll give you 1 if you just take the plea. This is a one off plea deal. If they then find out you passed 9 more fake checks they can arrest you for those 9 and depending on the conditions of the plea and time that elapsed, that one year deal may now be voided. So it could be in your best interest to cop to the extra checks and show you're cooperating even if it means you might get another year or two because it could work out better for you.
Basically, everyone wants to do a plea deal because it is easier for everyone involved.
What it seems like here is Hunter wants to have his cake and eat it too. He knows there's other shit that coming down but is trying to get a pass without telling them anything.