Hunter Biden is now on trial in Wilmington, Delaware, for gun-related federal charges – and it’s a Donald Trump appointee overseeing his case.
District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, 57, was initially assigned to the case, brought by special counsel David Weiss, back in June 2023.
At the time, the president’s son was expected to take a plea deal after striking an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to lesser tax charges and avoid the gun charges altogether.
But the federal judge was thrust into the spotlight when she suddenly rejected the deal in the 11th hour – calling it “not standard.”
Judge Noreika’s decision caused Biden’s cases to be split, leading to a three-count indictment on gun-related charges in Delaware and a nine-count indictment on federal tax charges in Los Angeles.
Now, the judge continues to preside over Biden’s case in Delaware where he is accused of lying about his previous drug use on a federal firearm purchasing form.
So who is the judge overseeing this historic first trial of President Joe Biden’s son?
Appointed in 2017, Judge Noreika serves as one of the four judges for Delaware’s single-federal district court.
Though she was nominated by former president Trump, her nomination was recommended and supported by Delaware’s two Democratic senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons.
At the time, Carper called her a “high-respected, sought-after attorney.”
Judge Noreika graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University in 1988 and earned a master’s degree in biology from Columbia University in 1990. She obtained her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1993.
After graduating, she practiced corporate and commercial law in Wilmington focusing on intellectual property law.
She worked for law firm Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell for nearly 24 years before her nomination and appointment to the district court in 2018.
During her career, Judge Noreika has donated to both Republican and Democratic campaigns – though more often to Republicans.
She has gained a reputation for no-nonsense professionalism and sets a high standard for technical legal matters.
While overseeing a criminal trial in August 2023, Judge Noreika plunged the courtroom into silence when she criticized a prosecutor for failing to submit evidence electronically for her review, POLITICO reported.
Notably, in 2022, Judge Noreika imposed a temporary injunction on a law preventing the sale of ghost guns in Delaware while litigation was ongoing. She argued that the ban would cause harm to plaintiffs because it threatened criminal penalties on conduct protected by the Second Amendment. That proposed law was eventually put on hold.
Judge Noreika also ruled that a defamation lawsuit between Biden’s laptop repairman and CNN, Politico and Biden could proceed in Delaware courts.
