Hunter Biden’s attorneys threatened to put Joe Biden on the witness stand if DOJ pressed firearm charge: report

The potential of having a sitting president take the stand reportedly played a part in Hunter's plea deal, which fell apart in July after Judge Maryellen Noreika discovered that the diversion agreement essentially sought to prevent the first son from facing charges related to his foreign business dealings.

"President Biden now unquestionably would be a fact witness for the defense in any criminal trial," lawyer Christ Clark wrote in a letter obtained by Politico. "There can be no doubt that these leaks have inserted President Biden into this case."

He said that "this of all cases justifies neither the spectacle of a sitting President testifying at a criminal trial nor the potential for a resulting Constitutional crisis."

Hunter's lawyers also claimed that having the DOJ target him for tax crimes would be "devastating to the reputation" of the agency, citing "the relentless political pressure from the opponents of the current President of the United States, namely Donald Trump, who had long demanded an investigation into the Bidens.

Clark, who referred to the gun charges brought against his client as "constitutionally dubious at best," has since departed from Hunter's legal team, though he may be called as a witness if the case goes to trial, where the details of the negotiations could come up.

Following the failed plea deal, both the tax and gun charges against Hunter were dropped in Delaware, with Special Counsel David Weiss announcing that they could be refiled in California or Washington, DC.