Remember how I wrote about how Hallie Biden was being compelled to testify?
I described how prosecutors submitted a filing in Delaware on May 17 asking to keep some exhibits pertaining to the testimony a female witness sealed until after she testified.
The United States of America, by and through its attorneys, David. C. Weiss, Special Counsel, and Derek E. Hines and Leo J. Wise, Assistant United States Attorneys for the District of Delaware, move that the enclosed filing be filed under seal as well as the accompanying proposed order and requested order from the court. The filing relates to a witness issue in the upcoming trial. The government will move to unseal this filing after the conclusion of the witness’s testimony at trial. In the interim, the government requests that the filings remain under seal to protect her identity from public disclosure so that her security is not compromised and so that there will be no witness intimidation issues that could undermine these proceedings. See United States v. Smith, 776 F.2d 1104, 1115 (3d Cir. 1985).
They filed an unsealed motion to compel Hallie Biden’s testimony in Los Angeles on May 21.
The Special Counsel hereby applies to this Honorable Court for an order compelling Hallie Biden to testify and produce evidence pursuant to the provisions of Title 18, United States Code, Section 6001 et seq., and respectfully represents as follows:
1. Hallie Biden has been subpoenaed to testify before this Court during trial beginning on June 20, 2024;
2. Counsel for Hallie Biden has advised that if Hallie Biden is called to the stand she will at that time refuse to answer questions, invoking the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination;
3. In the judgment of the Special Counsel, the testimony of Hallie Biden may be necessary to the public interest; and
4. Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg, an authorized Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States, has approved this application for an order instructing Hallie Biden to testify pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 6002 and 28 C.F.R. § 0.175(a).
As noted, Stuart Goldberg, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for DOJ’s tax division, submitted authorization for that grant of immunity. His letter doing so is dated May 20, 2024.
Judge Noreika has now ordered unsealed the earlier exhibits tied to testimony. And as I suspected, it pertains to Hallie Biden. As in CA, the approval for compelling her testimony was signed by Goldberg. That earlier letter is dated April 11, 2022.
Of some interest: the order approving that immunity was signed by Judge Noreika, back on April 18, 2022.
That suggests Noreika may have been involved in this case for longer than was known. That might arise if, for example, a non-prosecution agreement (for someone like Zoe Kestan) were filed under seal before Noreika some time ago, and she got assigned Hunter’s case as a related case (though not such paperwork is in Hunter’s docket).
Note that Noreika’s order included tax charges, FARA, and gun charges. So the tax division approved compelling Hallie’s testimony for the gun charges.
Derek Hines’ motion to unseal the exhibits the exhibits notably did not unseal the motion regarding the immunity it in the first place, which remains sealed.
So it’s not clear — and Hines didn’t make it clear when he moved to seal the filing — why it was fine to submit the immunity paperwork publicly in California but not in Delaware.
The filing relates to a witness issue in the upcoming trial. The government will move to unseal this filing after the conclusion of the witness’s testimony at trial. In the interim, the government requests that the filings remain under seal to protect her identity from public disclosure so that her security is not compromised and so that there will be no witness intimidation issues that could undermine these proceedings.
One way or another, though, it’s clear that Hallie Biden was first compelled to testify against her brother-in-law in 2022, when Lesley Wolf was overseeing the case.