Hunter Biden's attorneys say federal prosecutors reneged on plea deal

Attorneys for first son Hunter Biden said in a new court filing that federal prosecutors reneged on a plea deal that would have allowed him to avoid prison time on tax and firearms charges as a special counsel has been appointed to oversee the case. 

The deal was put on hold last month after Judge Maryellen Noreika expressed concerns about its constitutionality. Last week, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel over the case and federal prosecutors asked the judge to set aside the plea deal with the younger Biden because the sides reached an "impasse."

Biden's attorneys said in a late Sunday night filing that prosecutors reneged on the deal, according to Reuters. That same day, Biden attorney Abbe Lowell said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that prosecutors "changed their decision on the fly" about the plea deal while in court. 

There were three possibilities as to why the plea deal did not work out as anticipated, according to Lowell. 

"One, they wrote something and weren’t clear what they meant. Two, they knew what they meant and misstated it to counsel. Or third, they change[d] their view as they were standing in court in Delaware," Lowell said, according to The Hill.

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