The Justice Department is reportedly considering a new course of action after receiving severe criticism for the “sweetheart deal” offered to Hunter Biden, son of the vice president.

According to a Justice Department (DoJ) official quoted by The Daily Mail, there are ongoing discussions about possibly delaying Hunter Biden’s plea hearing in light of the controversy surrounding the plea agreement and allegations that Attorney General Merrick Garland misled Congress about the criminal investigation involving the Biden family.

The source added the following: “On July 26 a Delaware federal judge is set to decide whether to accept the First Son’s plea deal with prosecutors over two tax misdemeanors. Republican lawmakers are calling for Judge Maryellen Noreika to toss out the ‘slap on the wrist’ and ‘sweetheart’ deal entirely, after whistleblowers from the IRS who investigated Hunter for five years say that he could instead have been charged with a raft of more serious tax and corruption crimes. Now, a legal filing reveals the DoJ is considering delaying the finalizing of the plea deal amid the opprobrium.”

The Heritage Foundation is suing the Justice Department for withholding the contact information of Delaware prosecutor David Weiss. These documents are being requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

Heritage stated in a court filing submitted last week that on June 29, their attorney and DoJ counsel Jason Lynch had a phone conversation during which Lynch allegedly made the shocking statement.

Heritage’s attorney, Samuel Dewey, informed the DOJ representative that Heritage had the right to formally request the federal magistrate supervising Hunter’s criminal case to delay the July 26 scheduled plea hearing. The reason for the delay is to provide the team with additional time to examine and disclose Weiss’s records, allowing for a comprehensive evaluation of the prosecutor’s agreement.

“DoJ Counsel indicated that Plaintiffs were ‘absolutely right’ that the Department could file such a motion and that DoJ Counsel would take that point back to the ‘District’ (presumably speaking of the District of Delaware),” wrote Dewey.

His petition suggests that the Department of Justice is presently contemplating whether to request a postponement of Hunter’s plea agreement hearing.

“They have the capability to move the plea deal, though they didn’t indicate any likelihood they would,” Heritage Foundation Oversight Director Mike Howell told The Daily Mail.

“The public has an interest to assess for themselves: is this a sweetheart deal? It certainly appears to be,” Howell added. “This information needs to be out, and it’s in the public interest for it to be out prior to any plea being signed off on.”

Howell stated that the Foundation is actively searching for evidence to corroborate the claims made by the whistleblowers that Weiss encountered obstacles when pursuing criminal charges against the First Son in a number of districts, including Central California and Washington, D.C.

Garland informed the Senate that Weiss possessed the necessary credentials to prosecute Hunter nationwide. Nonetheless, during a congressional hearing, IRS inspectors asserted that Weiss encountered opposition from prosecutors in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles chosen by Biden, preventing him from pursuing criminal tax charges.

“If the whistleblowers are correct, U.S. Attorney Weiss’ Office should have responsive records that will corroborate the whistleblowers,” Dewey wrote in his filing.

“There are events so grave—so essential—to our constitutional order that if we are to keep our Republic, the American people must have a full accounting of the facts,” he added. “A state of affairs where there is a substantial question as to whether the Attorney General misled Congress is intolerable. That is why production of the records sought by Plaintiffs is essential. And why it is essential now.”

In response, the Department of Justice stated that while they would attempt to disclose certain documents, they would not do so until after Hunter’s plea hearing on July 26.

Once “Noreika signs off on the deal – the details of which are still secret – it is unlikely it can be reversed,” the Daily Mail noted.