June 4, 2024 1:46 PM
What you need to know about the judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s gun case
Via CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn
Judge Marilen Noreika.
Bill Hennessy
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika is hearing Hunter Biden’s firearms lawsuit in Delaware.
Noreika, nominated by President Donald Trump, was confirmed by a voice vote in the U.S. Senate in August 2018. He had the support of Delaware’s two Democratic senators. Senate blue slip practice requires district court judge nominees to have the support of their home state senators to advance their nomination.
Democratic Senator Chris Coons praised Noreika in a statement after her nomination was announced, calling her and the other appointees “accomplished attorneys” with “excellent trial skills, extensive federal legal experience and a deep respect for the law.”
Prior to becoming a federal judge, Mr. Noreika worked as a patent attorney in Wilmington, Del. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1993.
Noreika’s political contributions span both parties. At the presidential level, federal records show she gave $1,000 to then-New York Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the 2008 Democratic nomination. She then gave $2,300 to Arizona Senator John McCain, who eventually became the 2008 Republican nominee. She has also donated to subsequent Republican candidates, including $2,500 to Mitt Romney’s campaign in the 2012 presidential election.
Noreika also financially supported Sen. Tom Cotton, a conservative Republican from Arkansas, in his 2014 U.S. Senate election, and donated $1,000 to the Democratic Party of the Senate in 2009.
CNN’s Tierney Sneed, Marshall Cohen and Jack Forrest contributed to this report.
