The presiding judge Hunter Biden Federal Gun Trial in Delaware is a former corporate civil lawyer with a background in biology who was appointed to the bench by the Biden family’s main political antagonist: former President Donald Trump.
But even though that may raise partisan suspicions and questions of political pressure in the highly watched case, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika was recommended for the bench by both Democratic senators.
She has a brief history of political donations to both parties — mostly Republicans — and did not work on criminal cases or preside over a court before being named a federal judge. The New York Times reported that she was registered to vote as a Democrat from 2000 to 2020 until she changed her registration to no party affiliation.
She presided over a trial that revealed some of the the president’s son’s darkest moments, including drug addiction. Outside the courtroom, international media scrambled to catch a glimpse of members of the first family as they came and went.
At her Senate confirmation hearing, Noreika said she admires judges who are prepared and “willing to listen and give litigants the opportunity to be heard. … They want to make people feel like they were heard and given a fair chance.
If convicted, Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders don’t get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.
In a written response to questions about now-Vice President Kamala Harris’ sentencing, Noreika said she would “listen to arguments from the parties, including requests for clemency, and consider statements made by victims. If confirmed, I would do my best to enforce a sentence that is sufficient, but not greater than necessary.”’
Born in Pittsburgh, Noreika, 57, graduated from Lehigh University in 1988 before earning her master’s degree in biology from Columbia University in 1990. She received her law degree in 1993 from the University of Pittsburgh with magna cum laude honors.
Noreika spent the next 25 years at the Delaware law firm Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell, where she became a partner in 2001. According to her Senate confirmation questionnaire, most of her work has been in federal civil litigation involving intellectual property. He said she tried “at least 30” cases to verdict or final decision and most were non-jury trials. She also did not list any experience in criminal law.
Asked to list “all professional business, fraternal academic, civic, or charitable organizations” to which she has belonged since law school, Noreika responded, “None.”
For pro bono work, Noreika wrote that she spent 15 years as a guardian ad litem for children in Delaware Family Court.
“These cases involved difficult custody issues, including allegations of sexual and physical abuse, neglect and abandonment,” Noreika wrote. She described “taking the kids to lunch and dinner and fun activities to get them to engage with me and trust me.”
Her position as a judge in Hunter Biden’s criminal trial thrust her into the national spotlight and made her the subject of speculation about political partisanship.
It was Noreika who torpedoed a plea deal that would have resolved the weapons case when she raised concerns about the terms of the deal in 2023.
Noreika has previously presided over a Biden-related case: In March 2023, she dismissed part of a defamation lawsuit brought by the owner of a computer repair shop in Delaware where Hunter Biden left his laptop in 2019.
Federal campaign finance records show she donated at least $15,000 to political candidates between 2005 and 2014, most of it going to Republicans, including current U.S. Senators Tom Cotton and Mitt Romney. But she also donated to the presidential campaigns of Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain in 2008.
