A Delaware judge who garnered support from a close Biden ally in Dec. 2017 will preside over Hunter Biden’s federal criminal tax case in Delaware, the Justice Department announced last week.
U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika will oversee Biden’s plea hearing, which is slated for a month from Monday on July 26 at 10 a.m. ET.
Former President Donald Trump nominated Noreika to serve as the U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Delaware after his administration was consulted by both of Delaware’s Democratic senators for the seat that was vacated by Judge Gregory Sleet. In February 2018, a hearing on Noreika’s nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. One month later, her nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote. In August 2018, Noreika’s nomination was confirmed by a voice vote and she later received her judicial commission.
Upon being nominated to the post by Trump in December 2017, Noreika, a former patent attorney out of Delaware, received support from Delaware Sens. Chris Coons and Tom Carper. As outlined in the U.S. Constitution, the president ‘shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint’ judges.
Under the so-called blue slip tradition, judicial nominees may receive a confirmation hearing only if they receive support from both of their home-state senators, according to the American Constitution Society. That support was given to Noreika from Delaware Democrat Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons.
‘Delaware’s courts are renowned for their judges’ expertise. Maryellen Noreika and Colm Connolly are two highly-respected, sought-after attorneys who have displayed a vast knowledge of the law and a thorough understanding of the courts during their extensive careers working in the Delaware judicial system,’ Carper said of Noreika’s nomination in December 2017.
Carper’s comments were also echoed at the time by Coons, who said, ‘Colm Connolly and Maryellen Noreika are seasoned attorneys, with impressive trial skills, deep experience in federal practice, and profound respect for the law. I am confident that they will both be capable jurists, and I look forward to their confirmation hearings.’
A Fox News Digital report from April found that Hunter Biden served as an outside adviser at one time to Coons, and was instrumental in helping him fundraise for his successful 2010 Senate bid using his network of in-state and out-of-state business associates to contribute to Coons’ campaign.
According to emails from Hunter’s abandoned laptop, which have been verified by Fox News Digital, Coons met with Hunter and his longtime business partner Eric Schwerin in June 2010, just weeks before Hunter started hosting fundraising events for the future senator. On June 26, 2010, Coons emailed Hunter thanking him for their meeting earlier in the week.
Considered by some to be a potential nominee for a federal judgeship in the Federal Circuit by President Biden, Noreika has donated at least $15,000 to political candidates of both parties since 1999, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Most recently, Noreika made multiple financial contributions supporting Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton’s 2014 campaign, which resulted in the unseating of a Democratic incumbent. She also gave $2,500 to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012, and another $1,000 in 2009 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).
Prior to that, she gave $2,300 to the late GOP Sen. John McCain, who later became the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. Around the same time, she made a $1,000 donation to then-New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.
Additionally, Noreika donated $1,000 in 2005 to then-Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican from Pennsylvania.
Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax. He will also enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate felony charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
If convicted, Biden faces a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison on each of the tax charges – a total of two years. There is a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the firearm charge for which he agreed to the diversion program.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware did not respond to multiple media inquiries.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Brie Stimson, and Brooke Singman contributed to this article.