Hunter Biden’s lawyers on Tuesday accused prosecutors of succumbing to political pressure, IRS investigators of illegally leaking his data, and the Justice Department of improperly empowering a special prosecutor to pursue the case against him.
The president’s son, who filed nine motions, faces federal charges in California for allegedly failing to file tax returns, underreporting his income and overstating business expenses over a three-year period. The accusations followed a failed attempt to strike a plea bargain in Delaware on federal drug and firearms possession charges.
The motions allege that the case against Hunter Biden is defective for a number of reasons, including that he was the subject of “selective and vindictive prosecution” caused by politically motivated pressure exerted by “extremist Republicans.” Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s attorney, stated:
Politics have tainted this prosecution, and there is no constitutional option but to dismiss this case.
Last year, Attorney General Merrick Garland promoted David Weiss, who was appointed US attorney by then-President Donald Trump, to special counsel status. Weiss denies that political considerations influenced the prosecution.
“The charges in this case are not trumped up or because of former President Trump – they are instead a result of the defendant’s own choices and were brought in spite of, not because of, any outside noise made by politicians.”
Biden and his lawyers are targeting Weiss and claiming he was illegally appointed as a special prosecutor, since Justice Department policy requires special counsels to come from “outside of government.”
In fact, Trump is expected to file a similar motion later this week as he seeks to dismiss the federal case against him in Florida brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Earlier this month, Biden’s lawyers requested that the judge in the tax case filed in Los Angeles, Marc Scarsi, postpone the timing of motions in the case in order to allow Delaware gun judge Maryellen Noreika to rule first on a set of motions filed there last year. However, Scarsi denied Biden’s request without comment.
