On Wednesday, prosecutors hounded Hunter Biden’s lawyers during an hours-long hearing on several motions to dismiss criminal tax evasion charges against the president’s son.
The eldest son did not appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, but his lawyer, Abby Lowell, argued for the charges to be dismissed, saying they were politically motivated. He said the government was carrying out “the most ordinary prosecution that one can imagine.”
The tax charges against President Biden’s son stem from a multi-year investigation conducted by special counsel David Weiss. Lowell argued that the chronology of cases shows several felony misdemeanor charges against Hunter Biden.
Lowell shook his head repeatedly in frustration as Special Counsel Leo Wise laid out his arguments against dismissal of the case.
Hunter Biden seeks dismissal of Delaware firearms charges due to broken plea deal
“If you don’t have the facts, you attack the law. If you don’t have the law, you attack the facts. If you don’t have the facts and the law, you attack the prosecutors,” Wise said at one point. He referred to Lowell and called his argument in support of the dismissal “an allegation that is not based on fact.”
Hunter Biden (center) and his attorneys Abby Lowell (right) and Kevin Morris (left) at the Rayburn Building for a resolution recommending that the House of Representatives find Robert Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress. Leaving House Oversight and Accountability Committee Markup entitled. Wednesday, January 10, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
Wise said Abbe Lowell attacked prosecutors for working for Jim Jordan, Biden and Putin. “These are pleas that have no basis in fact.”
Judge Mark Scalsi, who presided over the hearing in a packed courtroom, cut off representatives from both sides several times. He said he plans to rule on multiple motions to dismiss federal tax charges against Hunter Biden by April 17.
Once the hearing concluded, Scalci said all parties had agreed to hold the next pretrial hearing on May 29th at 1:00 p.m. in Los Angeles.
Previously, Hunter Biden had pleaded not guilty to all nine federal tax charges stemming from the Weiss investigation. Hunter’s trial is scheduled to begin on June 20th.
Weiss indicted Hunter Biden in December, alleging a “four-year conspiracy” in which the president’s son failed to pay federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 and also filed false tax returns. did.
The charges include three felonies and six misdemeanors related to $1.4 million in unpaid taxes that have already been paid.
Weiss said in the indictment that Hunter “entered into a four-year scheme from approximately January 2017 to approximately October 15, 2017, to fail to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes owed for tax years 2016 through 2019. “I was involved,” he claimed. He evaded tax liability for the 2018 tax year by filing false returns in 2020 and around February 2020. ”
Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to tax charges brought by special counsel David Weiss
The special counsel alleged that Mr. Hunter “spent millions of dollars on a lavish lifestyle rather than paying taxes” and in 2018 “stopped paying unpaid and delinquent taxes for the 2015 tax year.”
Hunter Biden (center) and his attorneys Abby Lowell (right) and Kevin Morris (left) speak during the House Oversight and Accountability Committee meeting in the Rayburn Building. I arrived to attend a resolution recommending that Congress be found in contempt. Wednesday, January 10, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
Lowell is also seeking the dismissal of the firearms charges Weiss filed against Biden in Delaware.
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The president’s son pleaded not guilty to all charges in October.
Lowell argued in court Wednesday that the tax diversion agreement remains valid.
The diversion agreement was included as part of the original plea agreement that collapsed in July. Biden plans to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to pay federal income taxes, which would allow him to avoid prison time on the firearms felony charge. That deal fell apart during his last court appearance. Then, in July, the president’s son was forced to plead not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony firearms charge after the deal collapsed in court.
FOX News’ Lee Roth contributed to this report.
