Hunter Biden has asked for the criminal cases against him in Delaware and California to be dismissed, arguing that special counsel David Weiss was illegally appointed, citing the dismissal of the cases against former President Donald Trump.
Biden’s lawyers are seeking to dismiss both federal lawsuits against him: He was convicted last month of three felony counts related to a 2018 handgun purchase, and he has a pending lawsuit in California over alleged federal tax crimes.
Biden’s legal team has argued that Special Counsel David Weiss was appointed illegally because he was not Senate-confirmed — the same issue that led to a lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump over the handling of destroyed classified documents. Both men were prosecuted by a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
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Hunter Biden was convicted of all charges by a Delaware jury. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
In the Trump case, Judge Eileen Cannon ruled that the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional because he was appointed by Garland and not confirmed by the Senate, violating the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. The Department of Justice announced this week that it would appeal the ruling. A spokesperson for Smith previously said, “The dismissal of this case departs from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts that have considered the issue of whether the Attorney General has the legal authority to appoint a special counsel,” and that the Department of Justice had allowed the special counsel to appeal the court’s order.
The Hunter Biden case is different because Weiss was confirmed by the Senate as the US attorney for Delaware, but Biden’s lawyers argue that their case should be dismissed because Trump’s lawsuit was dismissed.
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“Based on these new legal developments, Mr. Biden seeks to dismiss the indictment because the Special Counsel who initiated this prosecution was also appointed in violation of the Appointments Clause,” the request reads.
“The Attorney General relied on the exact same authority when appointing special counsels in both the Trump and Biden cases, and both appointments are invalid for the same reasons,” the lawyers said.
This means President Biden’s son is trying to use a ruling in favor of Biden’s rival, and one that is now being challenged by the Department of Justice, to get the case dismissed.
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Former President Donald Trump headlines the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat on May 4, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Donald Trump 2024 Election Campaign)
Cannon’s recent ruling in the Trump case may be persuasive but is not binding because it was made in a different federal jurisdiction, but if the motion to dismiss is decided in Biden’s favor, it could also help Trump, giving his team another argument to make in arguing that Smith’s appointment was illegal.
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Biden’s team has requested an Aug. 5 hearing on the motion.
Fox News’ Bill Mears, Lee Roth, David Spunt, Jake Gibson and Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
