The federal judge presiding over the Justice Department’s case against Hunter Biden is Maryellen Noreika, who serves on the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
Judge Noreika was nominated by President Donald J. Trump in 2017 — with the support of Delaware’s two Democratic senators — and confirmed in 2018. She previously worked in patent litigation for 25 years and was a partner at the Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell law firm in Wilmington, Del.
Judge Noreika has presided over a Biden-related case before: In March, she threw out part of a defamation lawsuit brought by the owner of a Delaware computer repair shop where Mr. Biden left his laptop in 2019. Mr. Biden and his father’s presidential campaign were among the defendants in the suit, which Judge Noreika sent back to the state’s Superior Court.
Federal campaign finance records show that Judge Noreika has made at least $15,000 in donations to political candidates since 2005, largely to Republicans. She gave $5,200 to the 2014 Senate campaign of Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, and $5,000 in support of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012. In 2008, she donated to presidential candidates from both parties: $1,000 to Hillary Clinton and $2,300 to John McCain.
