1
00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:08,000
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Law with June Brusso from Bloomberg Radio.

2
00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:11,719
Speaker 2: Hunter Biden is a private citizen and this was a

3
00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:15,200
Speaker 2: personal matter for him. As we have said, the President

4
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:18,480
Speaker 2: the first Lady, they love their son and they support

5
00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,079
Speaker 2: him as he continues to rebuild his life.

6
00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,959
Speaker 1: But will rebuilding that life include Hunter Biden getting a

7
00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:29,320
Speaker 1: plea deal After his expected deal unraveled in a dramatic

8
00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,400
Speaker 1: fashion at a hearing on Wednesday, President Biden's son walked

9
00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:37,080
Speaker 1: into a Delaware courtroom intending to plead guilty to two

10
00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,800
Speaker 1: misdemeanor tax crimes and to enter into a diversion agreement

11
00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,720
Speaker 1: to avoid prison on a gun charge, but federal Judge

12
00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,280
Speaker 1: Mary Ellen Noraika refused to sign off on the terms

13
00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,559
Speaker 1: of the deal, expressing concerns about the structure of the

14
00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,320
Speaker 1: deal and the scope of immunity, among other things. So

15
00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,400
Speaker 1: Hunter Biden left the courtroom not knowing if he would

16
00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,320
Speaker 1: have a deal or face a try. Joining me is

17
00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:05,720
Speaker 1: former federal prosecutor Michael Zelden. How unusual is it to

18
00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,640
Speaker 1: have a plea deal that's not nailed down before you

19
00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:10,959
Speaker 1: take it to the judge.

20
00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,480
Speaker 3: Well, that was the most surprising thing about this case,

21
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,800
Speaker 3: which was that the judge didn't seem to be fully

22
00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,880
Speaker 3: invested in what was going on here, and the parties

23
00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,720
Speaker 3: themselves also had a disagreement between what the terms of

24
00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,920
Speaker 3: the plea meant, and that's unusual.

25
00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,759
Speaker 1: So the plea deal initially didn't protect Hunter Biden from

26
00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:38,560
Speaker 1: prosecution for other potential charges in the future. Isn't that

27
00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,679
Speaker 1: kind of immunity an essential part of most plea deals.

28
00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:48,480
Speaker 3: Most plea deals are plead to specific counts and this

29
00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:54,680
Speaker 3: investigation goes away. However, there are cases where the prosecutor says,

30
00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:59,760
Speaker 3: we are continuing our investigation. If you want to wrap

31
00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:02,960
Speaker 3: up a portion of it with a plea, will take

32
00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,480
Speaker 3: that and then you'll see where the chips lie going

33
00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,280
Speaker 3: down the line. More unusual, but it's not without precedent.

34
00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:15,120
Speaker 1: The judge described the plea deal as not standard, not

35
00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,720
Speaker 1: what I normally see, and possibly unconstitutional. What made this

36
00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,240
Speaker 1: plea deal so complicated and so different.

37
00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:27,200
Speaker 3: Well, there are two things. First, is the parties disagreed

38
00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,600
Speaker 3: as to whether or not this wrapped up everything. The

39
00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:35,240
Speaker 3: prosecutor said, no, it's a continuing investigation and there are

40
00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:41,280
Speaker 3: other possible charges. Farah in particular, that's the foreign lobbying prohibitions,

41
00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,880
Speaker 3: So there was that. Biden thought this wrapped up the

42
00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:48,920
Speaker 3: Farra stuff. Prosecutor said, no, Judge says, we can't have

43
00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,400
Speaker 3: a plea where you disagree on what the parameters of

44
00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:56,560
Speaker 3: it are. Second was the diversion on the gun case.

45
00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:00,760
Speaker 3: What happens in the diversion cases usually prosecutor said, I'll

46
00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,600
Speaker 3: let this case be diverted, meaning you won't go to jail,

47
00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:07,440
Speaker 3: and if you do all the terms of the diversion program,

48
00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:10,359
Speaker 3: then the case will just go away. Normally that's a

49
00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,079
Speaker 3: contract between the two parties. Prosecutor says, you have to

50
00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,040
Speaker 3: do ABCD. Defender says, okay. If ABCD are done, in

51
00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,680
Speaker 3: the prosecutor's mind, the case goes away. In this case,

52
00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:24,160
Speaker 3: they said, because you are Hunter Biden, we're going to

53
00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:28,680
Speaker 3: ask the court to decide whether ABCD has been done.

54
00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,120
Speaker 3: And she said, WHOA, that's not my role. That's a

55
00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:36,880
Speaker 3: prosecutor's role. I don't decide whether charging decisions are proper

56
00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:41,160
Speaker 3: and whether the terms of a plea are appropriately followed.

57
00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:43,120
Speaker 3: I don't want anything to do with that. And it

58
00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,840
Speaker 3: may be unconstitutional as a separation of powers matter to

59
00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:50,000
Speaker 3: have the judiciary performing what is essentially an executive branch function.

60
00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:51,560
Speaker 3: So she said, get me out of the middle of

61
00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:53,280
Speaker 3: this thing. Come back when you can let me know

62
00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:57,000
Speaker 3: that you have an executive branch constitutionally acceptable plea a deal.

63
00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:02,280
Speaker 1: So was this deal unusual the will? Was it unprecedented

64
00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:03,720
Speaker 1: the way it was structured?

65
00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,640
Speaker 3: Well, the diversion part was very unusual because it had

66
00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:12,800
Speaker 3: the judge making decisions that usually just prosecutors make. That's

67
00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,400
Speaker 3: the most unusual part of this thing. As to the

68
00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,719
Speaker 3: tax charges, he would have pleaded guilty to failure to

69
00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:24,440
Speaker 3: pay taxes in a timely fashion. Not tax fraud, but

70
00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,920
Speaker 3: failure to pay. In this case, he made a lot

71
00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,840
Speaker 3: of money and he didn't pay on time. He ultimately paid,

72
00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:34,240
Speaker 3: And so the question is, when you have a person

73
00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,240
Speaker 3: who hasn't paid on time, do you charge them with

74
00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,240
Speaker 3: a felony for that failure to file or do you

75
00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:43,160
Speaker 3: charge them with a misdemeanor. In this case, the prosecutors

76
00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,479
Speaker 3: determined that he should be charged with the misdemeanor. There

77
00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,360
Speaker 3: are a lot of extenuating circumstances. His drug and alcohol addictions,

78
00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,800
Speaker 3: the fact that he repaid the money, that fact that

79
00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,080
Speaker 3: he's repentant and the like, and they just decided that

80
00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,720
Speaker 3: this was a misdemeanor appropriate charge that happens all the time.

81
00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:05,920
Speaker 3: That's prosecutorial discretion in its most stark definition, and there's

82
00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,320
Speaker 3: nothing really unusual about it. The terms of this plea

83
00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:14,680
Speaker 3: were that there was no specific sentence that was agreed

84
00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,640
Speaker 3: to by the court and both parties. This was a

85
00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,719
Speaker 3: discretionary plea, meaning the court had the power even though

86
00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,960
Speaker 3: the prosecutor was recommending probation to sentence Hunter Biden to jail.

87
00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,440
Speaker 3: And they all acknowledge that that also is a little

88
00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,479
Speaker 3: bit unusual. More often than not, the defendant wants a

89
00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:34,919
Speaker 3: deal where if I'm going to plead guilty, I know

90
00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:39,239
Speaker 3: I'm getting one year or I'm getting probation. These eleven

91
00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,000
Speaker 3: B cases as they call them, where the judge is

92
00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:44,880
Speaker 3: not found by the recommendations, are again a little bit

93
00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,480
Speaker 3: unusual because defense lawyers want their clients to have certainty.

94
00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:52,240
Speaker 1: Many Republicans have said this was a sweetheart deal. Some

95
00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:57,280
Speaker 1: legal experts have said, no, this in fact was a

96
00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,719
Speaker 1: tougher deal than usual. What do you think was it

97
00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:01,560
Speaker 1: a sweetheart deal?

98
00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,600
Speaker 3: I don't think so. I think it falls within the

99
00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:10,520
Speaker 3: boundaries of prosecutorial discretion. They have the right to charge

100
00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:15,160
Speaker 3: taxes as misdemeanors or felonies for failure to pay. And

101
00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,560
Speaker 3: these what they call lie and buy cases. The gun case,

102
00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:20,720
Speaker 3: will you lie on the form that no, I'm not

103
00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,880
Speaker 3: under the influence of alcohol when I bought this gun.

104
00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,760
Speaker 3: Those cases, if those weapons are not used in the

105
00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,440
Speaker 3: commission of a crime after their purchase, oftentimes those are

106
00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,440
Speaker 3: treated as misdemeanors. And so as we just talked about

107
00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:37,880
Speaker 3: a moment ago, this I think was in the four

108
00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:42,320
Speaker 3: corners of what is prositutorial discretion. I don't think it

109
00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,719
Speaker 3: was a sweetheart deal, but if they charge them as

110
00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,359
Speaker 3: a felony, it wouldn't be out of bounds either.

111
00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,480
Speaker 1: The judge gave them time to negotiate, and they came

112
00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,120
Speaker 1: back and he agreed to plead guilty to the two

113
00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:57,760
Speaker 1: tax charges in a deal that only included conduct related

114
00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,280
Speaker 1: to the tax offenses, drug use and gun possession, and

115
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,800
Speaker 1: they agreed that this wouldn't shield him from other potential charges.

116
00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,880
Speaker 1: The judge wasn't satisfied with that, and she said it

117
00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:13,200
Speaker 1: might be unconstitutional, but they said, well, we'll agree, you know,

118
00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,080
Speaker 1: not to challenge it as unconstitutional. Could she have let

119
00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:19,800
Speaker 1: the deal go forward, I think so.

120
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,760
Speaker 3: I think she could have said, look, the tax charges

121
00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:26,720
Speaker 3: are non controversial. There a matter of prosecutorial discretion whether

122
00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,840
Speaker 3: it's a fellay or a misdemeanor, and I'll accept that.

123
00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:34,320
Speaker 3: It's your decision, prosecutor, which type of charge to bring.

124
00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:36,720
Speaker 3: And they had a little conversation about that. She said,

125
00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,800
Speaker 3: is this normal for me to make a charging decision?

126
00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:43,840
Speaker 3: And everybody agreed, no, no, no, judge, you're right. You

127
00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:45,080
Speaker 3: don't make charging decisions.

128
00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:45,360
Speaker 2: We do.

129
00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,400
Speaker 3: And she said, fair enough, and this is your charging decision. Yes,

130
00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,600
Speaker 3: this is our charging decision. So that could have gone

131
00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:57,640
Speaker 3: through pretty straightforwardly. This taxes on the diversion thing. She said,

132
00:07:58,160 --> 00:07:59,400
Speaker 3: I don't want to be in the middle of this thing.

133
00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:00,920
Speaker 3: I don't want to make it the decisions about whether

134
00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:03,080
Speaker 3: he complied or didn't comply. They said, all right, fine,

135
00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,520
Speaker 3: we'll just pretend it's a contract between the two of us,

136
00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,120
Speaker 3: and we, the prosecutors, will make all determinations about compliance

137
00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,200
Speaker 3: or non compliance. I think they could have left it

138
00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:14,800
Speaker 3: and she could have gone forward, but I don't think

139
00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,400
Speaker 3: she liked the language in the plea which had her

140
00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:20,520
Speaker 3: somehow in the middle. So I think she's making them

141
00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:24,440
Speaker 3: come back with a more clearly written plea agreement. I

142
00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:26,640
Speaker 3: think the parameters of it are now clear. There'll be

143
00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,840
Speaker 3: two tax misdemeanors, a diversion program. The prosecutors will determine

144
00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,600
Speaker 3: whether he's in compliance with the diversion and only the

145
00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,680
Speaker 3: prosecutors will make that decision, and then he'll be pleading guilty,

146
00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,600
Speaker 3: and then the investigation will be ongoing whether he violated

147
00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:45,360
Speaker 3: the Pharaoh rules, Foreign Registration Act rules, or whether he

148
00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:46,319
Speaker 3: did anything else.

149
00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,800
Speaker 1: So, as you mentioned, Michael, during the hearing, the prosecutors

150
00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:55,920
Speaker 1: confirmed that the investigation into Biden was ongoing and that

151
00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,320
Speaker 1: he could still be charged with a violation of Pharaoh,

152
00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:03,320
Speaker 1: which is the Foreign Agents Registration Act. How often are

153
00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,240
Speaker 1: plea deals made when an investigation is ongoing.

154
00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,720
Speaker 3: It's unusual that a plea is made in the middle

155
00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,400
Speaker 3: of an ongoing investigation where you are still the subject

156
00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,880
Speaker 3: of that ongoing investigation. It could be that you have

157
00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:23,079
Speaker 3: a broad ongoing investigation, say the January sixth investigation, and

158
00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,200
Speaker 3: someone could plead guilty to the role they played in

159
00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,960
Speaker 3: that broader investigation, ending all of their criminal involvement in

160
00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:36,240
Speaker 3: that broader, ongoing investigation. It's unusual that they'll plead guilty

161
00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,560
Speaker 3: and be told still, you know, you could still be

162
00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:44,720
Speaker 3: charged with additional violations of law, because they'll want to say, well,

163
00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,920
Speaker 3: then I'll wait to see what all is out there

164
00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:51,800
Speaker 3: for me, because maybe we can get a comprehensive plea

165
00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,320
Speaker 3: that encompasses everything. So it's unusual, and I think that's

166
00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:58,440
Speaker 3: why Biden's lawyers said at first when the court said

167
00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,240
Speaker 3: does this wrap up everything? They said yes, because that's

168
00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,080
Speaker 3: what I think they thought was going on. And the

169
00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:07,320
Speaker 3: prosecutor said no, and then they had to go out

170
00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,120
Speaker 3: to the hallway and talk about it. And then the

171
00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:11,120
Speaker 3: defense came back and said, all right, parah is still

172
00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,439
Speaker 3: on the table. It's still ongoing. But that is surprising

173
00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:14,679
Speaker 3: to me.

174
00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,200
Speaker 1: And apparently they've been discussing that. That's been a bone

175
00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:22,120
Speaker 1: of contention in the negotiations, and so to come into

176
00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:26,120
Speaker 1: court and not have that settled is just mind moggeling.

177
00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:28,920
Speaker 3: The only thing I can say is that you know,

178
00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,720
Speaker 3: Hunter Biden is a fragile human being. If you listen

179
00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,160
Speaker 3: to him in court and you look at his history.

180
00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,880
Speaker 3: He was last using drugs in twenty and nineteen. He's

181
00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:43,840
Speaker 3: been in and out of treatment programs since two thousand

182
00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:48,080
Speaker 3: and three, twenty years of drug and alcohol addiction. It

183
00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,040
Speaker 3: may just have been that he said to his lawyer's look,

184
00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,160
Speaker 3: I need to get closure, even if it's not closure

185
00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:57,160
Speaker 3: on one hundred percent of this thing. I just need

186
00:10:57,200 --> 00:10:59,720
Speaker 3: to keep moving forward with my life. I can't have

187
00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,720
Speaker 3: this hanging over me. I'll take my chances on the

188
00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,480
Speaker 3: Phara thing, but can we please wrap this thing up

189
00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,760
Speaker 3: because it's weighing on me. And people who have addiction

190
00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:11,200
Speaker 3: problems that have big things like this that weigh on

191
00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,040
Speaker 3: them can be tipping points for them to revert to

192
00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:14,880
Speaker 3: their bad behavior.

193
00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:19,600
Speaker 1: It's a good point. Republican Congressman Jim Jordan credited the

194
00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:23,960
Speaker 1: IRS whistleblowers for the collapse of the plea deal. How

195
00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,480
Speaker 1: much did politics play a part in the collapse? Do

196
00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:27,000
Speaker 1: you think?

197
00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:30,320
Speaker 3: I don't think I played any part in it. And

198
00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:34,640
Speaker 3: in fact, the judge said, you know, colloquy with the prosecutor.

199
00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:38,000
Speaker 3: You're doing what you think is best and I'm not

200
00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,640
Speaker 3: going to tell you what is or isn't appropriate in

201
00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,040
Speaker 3: this case. This is all up to you and it'll

202
00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:45,560
Speaker 3: be based on your review of the evidence. And he said,

203
00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:49,320
Speaker 3: that's right, judge, And so they then in any way

204
00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,640
Speaker 3: attribute the whistleblower or the politics of this thing to

205
00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:54,600
Speaker 3: the breakdown of the plea, And in fact, in the

206
00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:57,400
Speaker 3: one hundred and twenty seven pages of the transcript of

207
00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,120
Speaker 3: this thing which I've read through, there's no mention of

208
00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:05,600
Speaker 3: whistleblowers or the investigation being a sweetheart investigation or a

209
00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:09,200
Speaker 3: corrupt investigation. None of that stuff came up. So they're

210
00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:12,760
Speaker 3: taking credit for something that they had no right to

211
00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:13,440
Speaker 3: take credit for.

212
00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:16,880
Speaker 1: The judge told both sides to work out how the

213
00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:21,840
Speaker 1: deal was structured and resubmitted when it can pass constitutional muster.

214
00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:26,240
Speaker 1: She gave them thirty days to submit briefs. Does this

215
00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,959
Speaker 1: seem like it's something that can be resolved, that this

216
00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:33,720
Speaker 1: plea deal can be resurrected, or will this drag on

217
00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:37,240
Speaker 1: and perhaps end with Hunter Biden going to trial.

218
00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,240
Speaker 3: No, I think that this will settle. I think that

219
00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:44,319
Speaker 3: the outline of the plea was sort of made clear

220
00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:46,840
Speaker 3: at the very end when they said, we'll come back

221
00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:50,160
Speaker 3: and we'll give you a cleaner document which will include

222
00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:54,640
Speaker 3: the two misdemeanor tax cases and the one lion by

223
00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,400
Speaker 3: a gun case for which he will be diverted, and

224
00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,200
Speaker 3: we the prosecutors, will make all the final determinations about

225
00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,960
Speaker 3: whether he's complied with the terms of his diversion program.

226
00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:05,200
Speaker 3: And I think that'll be that.

227
00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:10,120
Speaker 1: The fact that he's the president's son and you know,

228
00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:12,880
Speaker 1: all eyes were on this plea deal, do you think

229
00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:16,240
Speaker 1: that made the judge more cautious? Perhaps?

230
00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,880
Speaker 3: Oh? Sure, I think that the judge knew. In fact,

231
00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:24,240
Speaker 3: I think the judge acknowledged during the plea that she

232
00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:27,439
Speaker 3: was being particularly careful because everyone is going to read

233
00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:30,840
Speaker 3: this transcript by going a fly Speckett, and she wants

234
00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,480
Speaker 3: to make sure that every tea has been crossed and

235
00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,480
Speaker 3: every eye has been dotted. And so yes, she was

236
00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:39,200
Speaker 3: particularly careful, and I think she did a great job

237
00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:42,520
Speaker 3: in making sure that everything that needed to be covered

238
00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:43,920
Speaker 3: off was covered off.

239
00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:48,320
Speaker 1: Well, we'll see what happens within thirty days or perhaps sooner.

240
00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:52,400
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Michael. That's former federal prosecutor Michael Zelden,

241
00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:55,319
Speaker 1: and that's it for this edition of The Bloomberg Law Show.

242
00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,000
Speaker 1: Remember you can always get the latest legal news on

243
00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:01,679
Speaker 1: our Bloomberg Law podcast and find them on Apple Podcasts,

244
00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:06,599
Speaker 1: Spotify and at www dot Bloomberg dot com, Slash podcast

245
00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,719
Speaker 1: Slash Law, and remember to tune into the Bloomberg Law

246
00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,720
Speaker 1: Show every weeknight at ten pm Wall Street Time. I'm

247
00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,239
Speaker 1: June Grosso and you're listening to Bloomberg