Top Hunter Biden Lawyer Asks Out After Plea Deal Fails

A leading lawyer for Hunter Biden is asking a federal judge to remove him from the case because he might be called as a witness.

Attorney Christopher Clark helped craft the plea deal that once had Biden ready to plead guilty to two federal tax misdemeanors, along with a diversion agreement for a felony gun possession charge – the latter of which gave Delaware U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika pause.

“Based on recent developments, it appears that the negotiation and drafting of the plea agreement and diversion agreement will be contested, and Mr. Clark is a percipient witness to those issues,” lawyer Richard Jones wrote in a motion Tuesday.

The filing cited Delaware Rule of Professional Conduct 3.7(a), which mandates “a lawyer shall not act as advocate at a trial in which the lawyer is likely to be a necessary witness unless … (3) disqualification of the lawyer would work substantial hardship on the client.”

“Under the ‘witness-advocate’ rule, it is inadvisable for Mr. Clark to continue as counsel in this case,” the motion concluded. “Withdrawal will not cause a substantial hardship to Mr. Biden because counsel from the other firms that have entered an appearance will continue

to represent Mr. Biden in this matter.”

The move comes just days after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed U.S. District Attorney David Weiss as special counsel in investigating Hunter Biden.

The special counsel designation came as prosecutors in Delaware announced Friday that plea deal talks Weiss was pursuing in the tax evasion case had hit an impasse.

In a court filing Friday, Weiss’ team said charges would be better filed in California or Washington. Though Garland has said Weiss always had the authority to file outside Delaware, the venue might have been a factor in his request to be named special counsel.