Fears about Trump 'regaining the presidency' may have killed Hunter Biden plea deal: Ex-DOJ prosecutor

President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, was expected to plead guilty to two charges of failing to pay taxes during a hearing in a federal courtroom in Delaware on Wednesday, July 26. Under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, the younger Biden would plead guilty to the tax charges in exchange for a gun-related case to be dropped.

But the deal fell apart — at least for the time being — when U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Donald Trump appointee, complained that she was being asked to be a "rubber stamp" for the plea deal. Noreika asked the president's son, "Without me saying I'll agree to the plea agreement, how do you plead?" And Hunter Biden responded with a "not guilty" plea to all charges, including the tax charges he was expected to plead guilty to.

MSNBC's Alex Wagner discussed this surprising development with former federal prosecutor and ex-FBI official Chuck Rosenberg when he made a July 26 appearance on her show.

Wagner asked Rosenberg if perhaps Hunter Biden's lawyers are worried that he could be facing a "new Benghazi" in which he is "investigated exhaustively despite whatever evidence may or may not exist."

Rosenberg replied, "The reason the defendant would want broad immunity from other prosecutions is because, in this case, if Mr. Trump wins the presidency, he's vowed to go after what he calls the Biden crime family. I think that's a deeply offensive and reckless statement, but it has to resonate with Hunter Biden. And so, when a defendant pleads guilty, they're looking for immunity from crimes that the government knows about — that it has investigated. They want some assurance that this chapter in their life has closed."

At issue in the July 26 hearing, according to Rosenberg, was, "How broad is the immunity the government is going to confer on Mr. Biden if he pleads guilty?"

"Of course," Rosenberg told Wagner, "Mr. Biden is thinking not just about this attorney general and this president and this administration, but what might happen to him if Mr. Trump regains the presidency."