Watch court arrivals in Delaware as Hunter Biden faces misdemeanor tax and gun-related charges

Hunter Biden appeared to face misdemeanour tax and gun-related charges on Wednesday (26 July).

The son of US president Joe Biden was expected to plead guilty to the tax charges and enter a diversion program to avoid conviction on the gun charge, but the judge said she could not "rubber stamp the agreement".

Prosecutors alleged that Hunter Biden did not pay taxes on more than $1.5m in income in 2017 and 2018 despite owing more than $100,000.

In June, Hunter Biden reached an agreement with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to the two federal tax misdemeanours, avoiding prosecution on a gun charge as part of the deal.

Republican lawmakers made a last-ditch bid to block the businessman's plea deal ahead of today's court hearing.

GOP chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Rep Jason Smith asked the judge on Tuesday to throw out the plea agreement claiming that testimony from two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers show the deal is “tainted”.