Who appointed Judge Maryellen Noreika? All about the district justice employed in Hunter Biden's plea deal case

On Wednesday, July 26, a district judge named Maryellen Noreika weighed the terms of the Hunter Biden plea deal and did not accept or reject them yet.

President Joe Biden’s son is facing misdemeanor tax charges, for which he attended the Delaware Federal Court. Last month, he was in negotiations with federal prosecutors about his plea deal.

Judge Maryellen Noreika postponed the plea deal after an hours-long and detailed hearing. At the end of the court session, she said that she had concerns with the structure of the agreement and even asked for extra briefings from both parties in the coming month before giving her verdict.

For those unaware, Maryellen Noreika was appointed as a district judge of the Delaware Federal Court after former President Donald Trump nominated her in August 2018.

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Judge Maryellen Noreika is a Columbia University graduate

In December 2017, former President Donald Trump nominated Judge Maryellen Noreika to replace Judge Gregory Sleet, who was up for retirement the next year. In August 2018, Maryellen Noreika succeeded Judge Sleet and has since served as a district judge at the Delaware Federal Court.

Maryellen Noreika graduated from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Law in 1993. She also obtained a major in legal studies from Columbia University the following year. In addition, she also earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Lehigh University.

As per her federal biography, she worked as a patent lawyer in private practice from 1993 to 2018 before joining as a federal judge. She was a partner at the Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell law firm in Wilmington, Delaware.

Over the years, she has donated to campaigns of both Democrats and Republicans, including those of Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Mitt Romney, among others, as revealed by CNN. In fact, since 2005, she has contributed at least $15,000 to political candidates, as per federal campaign finance records.

Interestingly, this is not the first time Judge Noreika has presided over a Biden-related case. Earlier, in March 2023, she dismissed a defamation lawsuit against the current President, as reported by The New York Times.

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In brief, the Hunter Biden case

Hunter Biden’s misdemeanor tax charges have been investigated since 2018, even before his father, Joe Biden, became president.

The investigation is jointly conducted by federal officials and the US Attorney's Office in Delaware and is led by US Attorney David Weiss, who was also appointed to his current position by former President Donald Trump.

The charges against Hunter Biden include allegedly not paying adequate taxes on millions of dollars worth of income, including the money he gained from various overseas business ventures for the years 2017 and 2018. He allegedly owes the federal government over $100,000 worth of income taxes per year.

Allegations also include that Biden Junior lied about his drug abuse while filling out a gun application form in 2018, despite later admitting that he was using it around the same time.

In June 2023, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two tax-related misdemeanors and gain entry into a pre-trial diversion agreement that would help him ignore prosecution on the felony gun charges. Unfortunately for him, his plea deal fell apart on Wednesday, July 26, when Judge Maryellen Noreika said:

“I’m not going to say I’m going to accept the agreement; I’m not going to say I’ll deny it.”

Following this, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty when both sides and the judge made it clear that he was not eligible for full immunity. Hunter Biden may face up to 2 years in federal prison for his tax evasion charges and up to 10 years in prison for the firearm felony charge.

While Republicans continue to claim that he has benefited from political intervention and even called the case a "sweetheart plea," the White House has kept the President away from the case.

During many press conferences, Joe Biden said he was not well aware of his son’s foreign business dealings and was in no way responsible for the ongoing federal investigation.